Lars Opland lives in Wasilla,Alaska and we started exchanging emails when I asked around on the internet for info Mirow Air Services and the Stinson; soon Lars started to send interesting images, some of them I would like to share here.
His collection includes images from his Grandpa's album, scanned images from the the Museum of Alaska Transportation & Industry, the Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum, Ted Spencer's Alaska Aviation Historical Society, & more...

Another fine shot from the Juneau waterfront.
"Here's "Nugget" from another angle while we're at it; another scan from Ted Spencer. NC47M was not a "typical" Vega floatplane at this point, fitted with non-standard engine, cowling & floats".
Photo: courtesy of Ted Spencer, Alaska Historical Aircraft Society

"Ted Spencer uses the name, Alaskan Historical Aircraft Society, though he now lives in California. I am sure he won't mind us using the photos he has provided as long as he gets proper credit: "Photo courtesy of Ted Spencer, Alaska Historical Aircraft Society". He used to be Director at the Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum at Lake Hood. he and jim Ruotsala shared a lot of research."

Hans Mirow

Stinson A Tri-motor NC15165 on Airliners.net

Photo of NC16154

The caption reads: "One of the Stinson Tri-motors, Nome, Alaska
Chartered by Reindeer Acquisition Unit for 3 months, Mirow Air Service, Nome, Alaska"

Although it is hard to read I think I can make a serial on the tailsection: 16154

Photo (c) Lars Opland Collection

Stinson Tri-Motor NC15109 (c/n 9109) of Alaska Airlines.
Photo: Museum of Alaska Transportation & Industry archives.

"One of Alaska Star Airlines' aircraft (ca. 1944?) either just before, or just after Alaska Star changed its corporate name to Alaska Airlines, Inc.
NC15109 was an ex-American Airlines Stinson A"
From: www.EdCoatescollection.com

"NC162W appears in the MATI archives first among the many beautiful photos of the William Fike Collection.
Mr. Fike was an Alaska Star Airlines pilot through the early 1940's and he took many B&W and color photos of the aircraft in use at the time. Star's only Vega appears often among these."

Lockheed Vega 5B NC162W (c/n 128) was involved in an accident, without fatalities, on 08Feb44, no details.

Lockheed Vega 5B, S/N 128 (ATC 227) manufactured July 1930 by Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, Burbank, CA. It came with a Pratt & Whitney Wasp engine (S/N 3200) of 450HP. It was a seven-place aircraft. It was named "Shell No. 6". More...

Photo right:
- Lars Opland Collection -
NC162 while in service with Mirow Air Service.

"This one I found in the William Fike Collection. Not sure if this is colorized, but a fine portrait. "

Photo: courtesy Ted Spencer collection.

Photos: Museum of Alaska Transportation & Industry

Schematics

More info:
Lockheed Orion 9

Photo: Bill Fike's color photography, from MATI archives

Here is the earliest Star livery I have for NC251CM, from MATI archives.
Can anybody identify either of these fellows? The one in boots, jodhpurs & parka has "pilot" written all over him...

Duane McEwen wrote me in Jan.2007:
"You asked about identification of the two men standing by the Bellanca NC251M. I am going to guess that the one on the right in the high lace-up boots might be Jack Jefford. Jefford was a well known early day Alaska pilot who came to Alaska from Nebraska in 1937 to fly for Mirow Air Service out of Nome. He flew for them until 1940, when he became a pilot for the CAA in Anchorage. He was a very well know CAA/FAA pilot until he retired in 1972. He died in 1979.
He wrote a book titled "Winging It!" Actually, he told the stories in the book into a tape recorder, and after he died his daughter and son-in-law transcribed the tape recorded stories into a book. The subtitle of the book is: "His own story by Jack Jefford, pioneer Alaskan aviator".
I am guessing that the person in the photo may be him because: dark hair, relatively tall (although obviously the shorter of the two in the photo.) He lists his height in his book as six feet, and his weight as 180 lbs. The parka is very similar to one that he was photographed in several times. He later had a pencil thin moustache, but that photo may be earlier. (Of course, it may not be him at all, my guess may be totally wrong!)"

"My father-in-law went to work for the CAA as a radio operator at Cape Yakataga, Alaska in 1947. He brought his family with him from Wenatchee, WA to Cape Yakataga. They rode from Seattle, WA to Juneau, Alaska on a Pan American Airways DC-4, and from Juneau to Anchorage on an Alaska Airlines DC-3. From Anchorage to Cape Y, they rode in a CAA DC-3, the King Chris, with Jack Jefford as pilot...
My wife made the trip with her parents as a small infant. King Chris was the first DC-3 owned by the Alaskan Region of the CAA. The name plate from the King Chris was in the aviation museum in Anchorage in the late 90s, and may still be there.
The full reference for the book is: Winging It! His own story by Jack Jefford, pioneer Alaskan aviator, Edited by Carmen Jefford Fisher and Mark Fisher with Clifford Cernick. Rand McNally and Co. Chicago, 1981. ISBN 0-528-81111-8.
The book has many good Alaskan flying stories, several of which are about Hans Mirow, his flying service, and his airplanes.
I spent over 30 years in Alaska before I retired and came south. I sure miss that place and those days!"
Duane McEwen
Lynden, WA

NC251M worked for Kenmore Air in Washington in the 1950's and then went into private hands.
At one point it was written off and lost its original tailnumber., before this photo was taken; after rebuilt it became NC1024S because NC251M had been assigned to a Mitsubishi MU-2 back in the 1960s, while the Bellanca languished as an apparent pile of junk behind a barn. But the turbo twin has since been written off, been "cosmetically restored" and now graces a display pylon at Tulsa Airport... John Pike overcame considerable bureaucratic difficulty and restored the original registration to his Bellanca, in about 2003.

Here is more information on the Bellanca Pacemaker. However, (on this website) the Wright J-6E or 975E was an upgrade from the original lower-compression J-6/975. On the original power plant, the exhaust exits out the front of the cylinder head, while on the E-version the exhaust port is out the side of the head and all the elbows reach in between the cylinders.

Starting about 1936, A new logo appeared; a cream & dark blue "Kremlin Star". NC168N didn't have it yet in 1936, but sported the whole scheme for a color motion picture footage of operations on floats from the frozen, snow-covered surface of Lake Spenard in 1940 (color image from AAHM archives)

Wrecked without loss of life in Rainy Pass in 1946, NC168N's remains have been recovered and reside at the Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum.

Harold Gillam, one of Alaska most notorious bush pilots, went missing on a flight from Seattle to Ketchikan on Jan. 5, 1943.
Born in 1903 in Illinois and raised in Nebraska, Gillam joined the Navy as a teen, served in the Pacific and mustered out in Seattle. While there he learned of construction opportunities in Alaska and came north in 1923. His career in aviation developed here, while he worked at Weeks airfield in Fairbanks. It was Gillam, as a trainee flying alone, who found Carl Ben Eielson's crashed plane in Siberia in 1930.
Gillam had a reputation as an inordinate risk-taker, not a useful approach in flying small aircraft. He had six crashes in a little over six months flying out of Cordova to Kennecott in 1931.
In early 1943, Gillam flew for Morrison-Knudson, one of the major contractors handling military construction in Alaska during World War II. Piloting a twin-engine Lockheed Electra, he flew from Seattle on Jan. 5 that year, carrying five passengers, intending to refuel at the Annette Island air base near Ketchikan. Probably because of confusion over the heading of the radio beam from the Annette Island tower, Gillam flew into the top of a mountain on the mainland not far from the base.
Everyone survived the initial impact, but a woman aboard died within two days. The other four passengers managed to descend the mountain to the shoreline where they were rescued a month later. Gillam had separated from the others, made his way to the shore and had tied up makeshift visual markers to guide air or sea rescuers. Unfortunately, he had apparently broken through ice on a stream and likely died from exposure. He is buried in Fairbanks,Alaska.
He was noted for his daring as a bush flier, but his career also serves as a poignant reminder of the need for prudence and meticulous attention to detail when flying the Alaska wilderness.
There are two recent biographies: Arnold Griese, "Bush Pilot" and Ken Eichner, "Nine Lives of an Alaska Bush Pilot".
From: www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/8545154p-8437939c.html

NC711Y is also featured on my webpage dedicated to Phil Smith's collection

A photo of Pilgrim NC711Y was sent to me in March 2007 and is included on my page Photos by Friends and Guests, page 7

G-CARM on floats at Juneau, just prior to the 1939 crash.

© Photo from the Jim Ruotsala collection, courtesy of Ted Spencer.

JAMES "JIM" RUOTSALA (1934 - 2007) is considered by many to be Alaska’s foremost aviation historian; he has combined his collection of photographs with others and researched aviation in the Alaska Panhandle during the early part of the twentieth century. His books include 'Alaskan Wings' and 'Pilots of the Panhandle'.
Ruotsala was born in Juneau on Feb. 17, 1934. He fell in love with flying at the age of 9, when he would spend his days at a hangar now known as Hangar on the Wharf. He wrote more than 80 published articles, had a collection of about 3,000 aviation photographs and a self-published book that won him a Denali Award.
During his 42 years in the military, including service with the U.S. Navy and U.S. Army Reserve, he received 21 medals and numerous letters of commendation. He remained active for many years as the commander of the 1st Civil Support Battalion, Alaska State Defense Force in Southeast.
After his military career, he became divisional manager at P.F. Collier in Honolulu for 11 years. He spent some time in Anchorage as marketing director for Air Alaska before returning to Juneau in 1991.
Source: www.juneauempire.com

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