ALASKA AVIATION Legends
Warren Thompson RESCUE MISSION LEGEND AND TEACHER By Jane Dale
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viation has been Warren Thompson’s primary interest since he was a teenager. He started working part-time at the local airport in Libby, Mont. after school and obtained his private pilot’s license in 1947, when he was 17 years-old. Thompson began his private flying in 1954, and worked to receive all the ratings available in small aircraft (private, commercial, ATP). Thompson is notorious for rescue missions in the Northwest regions of Alaska. He earned not only mention in the U.S. Congressional Record, but he twice won the Civil Air Patrol’s Medal of Valor for Heroic Action and is a two-time recipient of the Air Command Rescue Trophy. Thompson located or helped find dozens of people lost in the Alaskan Bush. He was enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served around aircraft as an air crewman
operating radios on board B-24 high-altitude photo reconnaissance aircraft and maintaining the Navy’s version of the Twin Beech. “The aircraft were basically World War II air frames, but they had turbo chargers and could operate at high altitude,” said Thompson. “We were supporting the USGS mapping of the Aleutian Chain and the Brooks Range, so flew over at 24,000 feet with the aircraft bomb bays open and large Fairchild cameras shooting images of the ground.” Describing the condition during post WWII Thompson recalled, “The camera negatives were 9 by 18-inches, and the images were supposed to overlap by 30 percent or we’d have to re-fly the pattern. As the radio operator, I had a nice warm, cozy office. “The photographers were in heated
“I taught a lot of young Alaska Native men to fly, and it was an honor and a great source of enjoyment for me.”
Born December 30, 1929 Birthplace Libby, Montana Came to Alaska 1949 Began Flight Lessons Oct 3, 1944 Solo May 24, 1946 Commercial June 12, 1956 Seaplane June 17, 1958 Instrument (FAI) Feb 27, 1960 ATP & Multi Engine 1965 Instructor CFII Total Flight Hours 38,353 Aircraft Flown Taylorcraft, Aeronca Champ Piper J-3 Cub, PA-18-150 Dornier, Stinson Twin Beech Piper PA-11, DHC-2 Beaver Cessna 180, 185, 206, 207 Cessna 402 Navajo, Single Engine Otter Aviation Service U. S. Navy Boeing FAA Flight Service Station Civil Air Patrol Baker Aviation Ryan Air Above: Warren in his Navy sailor uniform shortly after he enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1947. Left: Warren Thompson opens the cockpit door of a Ryan Air twin after delivering a load of people to the villages in Northwestern Alaska. Thompson flew for Ryan after he retired from the FAA... Photos courtesy of the Thompson family.
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