How a Seaplane Spark Ignited My Aviation Journey
Some passions sneak up on you quietly. Mine roared in on the whine of propellers and the smell of saltwater spray. In a place where seaplanes are lifelines and the skies are our highways, I didn’t just see airplanes — I saw freedom, adventure, and a world waiting to be explored from above.
At a very early age, I was bitten by the aviation bug. In Southeast Alaska, the only way to get from town to town — and for the most part, this still holds true today — was either by boat or by plane. And around here, seaplanes aren’t just handy, they’re essential.
When I was a kid, my dad worked part-time at the local airport. Sometimes he’d take me along, and that’s where I first laid eyes on the Ellis Airway Grumman Goose. I was amazed by those birds — their graceful lines, their ability to land on both water and land. Back then, our small airport also saw Pan Am, TWA, and the U.S. Coast Guard come through. For a young boy already fascinated by flight, it was pure magic.
I knew, even then, that one day I would become a commercial pilot.
Years passed, but that dream never faded. Then in January 1987, I made it happen. I traveled to a flight school in Northern California with one mission: earn my Private Pilot’s License. I did that — and more. In just seven months, I had also earned my Commercial License, my Instrument Rating, and my Seaplane Rating.
During those months, I literally ate, slept, and breathed aviation. Every day was a deep dive into the world I loved, and each hour in the air only deepened my passion.
My very first flight was in a Cessna 172, and I can still remember the thrill of that moment — the hum of the engine, the lift as the wheels left the ground, the world shrinking below. That flight wasn’t just a beginning; it was the start of a lifelong career in aviation.
And so, the boy who once stood at the edge of a runway watching Grumman Gooses take off, became a pilot himself. The journey had begun.
Decades later, I still feel the same rush every time I step into a cockpit. The boy who once pressed his face against the airport fence, mesmerized by a Grumman Goose, has flown countless hours over some of the most breathtaking landscapes in the world. Aviation didn’t just give me a career — it gave me a way of life. And every time I take off, I’m reminded of that first spark, and the dream it carried me into the sky.
Notes from Alex 