- Robert Campbell Reeve
Robert Campbell (Bob) Reeve (
March 27 1902 –August 25 1980 ) was the founder ofReeve Aleutian Airways .Childhood
Bob Reeve was born in Waunakee,
Wisconsin on March 27 1902. He was one of twins, his brother was Richard. Their parents were Hubert and Mae Reeve. Mae died in 1904, and their father remarried, leaving the boys to fend for themselves. Bob and Richard went their separate ways early in life. Bob was fascinated byaviation from an early age, and studied all he could on the subject. He enlisted in theUS Navy aged 15 in 1917. Discharged from the Navy at the end of the war, Bob had reached the rank of sergeant. He wanted to re-enlist, but his father was against this so Bob returned to school, but dropped out after a few months and went toSan Francisco . From there he got passage as an ordinary seaman toShanghai , where he took a job in the Chinese Maritime Customs Service, serving on theYangtze and Taku rivers. In 1921, Bob was working inVladivostok ,USSR , but returned home as a result of his father's pleading.cite book | first = Stan| last = Cohen| authorlink = | coauthors = | year = 1988| month = | title = Flying Beats Work. The Story of Reeve Aleutian Airways| chapter = Chapter 1| editor = | others = | edition = | pages = | publisher = Pictorial Histories Publishing Company| location = Missoula, Montana| id = ISBN 0-933126-98-0| url = ] [http://www.aviationhalloffamewisconsin.com/inductees/reeve.htm Aviation Hall of Fame] ]Bob finished high school, and then entered the
University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1922, his brother already being there. A picture of the aviator Carl Ben Eilson was on the wall at the fraternity house, this inspired Bob Reeve, George Gardner, Monk MacKinnon and Ora McMurray to skip classes to spend time at Madison airfield, where Cash Chamberlain had aCurtiss Jenny . Six months short of graduation, all four were expelled from the university. This pushed them further into aviation, with Gardner and MacKinnon becoming President and Vice-President respectively ofNorthwest Airlines .Barnstorming days
Reeve headed to
Florida , then toBeaumont, Texas where he joined a pair of barnstormers - "Hazard" and "Maverick". In exchange for two months' work at the airfield, Bob got three hours flying instruction (which was called five) and soloed. When the Air Commerce Act of 1926 came into force, he got one of the first Engine and Aircraft Mechanic's Licenses and his Commercial Pilot's License. Reeve joined the Army Air Corps atMarch Field , but was discharged after a short time.outh America
of Panagra at Santiago, and quit before he was fired.cite book | first = Stan| last = Cohen| authorlink = | coauthors = | year = 1988| month = | title = Flying Beats Work. The Story of Reeve Aleutian Airways| chapter = Chapter 2| editor = | others = | edition = | pages = | publisher = Pictorial Histories Publishing Company| location = Missoula, Montana| id = ISBN 0-933126-98-0| url = ]
Alaska
Reeve's move to
Alaska came as the result of unrelated incidents. He had met a Klondike prospector, "Swiftwater Bill" Gates, inChile , who had told him of the Gold Rush thirty years earlier. He had also talked to Eddie Craig, a mining engineer at the Kennicott Copper Mine in Alaska in the early 1900s. These stories, and the idea that there was new country to conquer pulled Reeve north. He returned home to Wisconsin, where he suffered a slight attack ofpolio which affected one of his legs slightly.Reeve stowed away on a
steamship , arriving in Alaska with $2 in his pocket, andValdez, Alaska with 20¢. At Valdez airfield, Owen Meals had a wrecked Eaglerock aircraft with aWright J-5 engine that had been a spare forSir Hubert Wilkins when he made his flight across theNorth Pole toSpitsbergen .cite book | first = Stan| last = Cohen| authorlink = | coauthors = | year = 1988| month = | title = Flying Beats Work. The Story of Reeve Aleutian Airways| chapter = Chapter 3| editor = | others = | edition = | pages = | publisher = Pictorial Histories Publishing Company| location = Missoula, Montana| id = ISBN 0-933126-98-0| url = ]Reeve worked for a month at $1 an hour repairing the plane, and then leased the plane from Meals at $10 an hour. Having created a landing strip, Reeve was in business. His first charter was to Middleton Island, where the beach looked fine to land on, but the aircraft sank up to its wheels in the soft sand. An old block and tackle was found and used to rescue the aircraft from the incoming tide. Reeve managed to take off, and attempted to fly back to Valdez, but was forced to land at Seward owing to a storm. When he eventually got back to Valdez his tanks were almost empty, and he hadn't earned a cent. Reeve said this trip was worth $1,000 in experience. Reeve quickly learnt that the bush pilot's biggest worry was paying for gas, which could be 25¢ a gallon in one place, and $1.50 in another.
That winter, Reeve was hired to fly supplies to
Chisana at 20¢/lb, his base for this was at Christochina, where a small airstrip had been created with high obstacles each end of the runway. Oil in the aircraft engines had to be drained each night, and warmed up on a stove each morning before being returned to the engine, as it was so cold that the oil would freeze. Reeve made a $2,000 profit on the Chisana route and had heard of aFairchild 51 for sale inFairbanks . This was the type of aircraft he had used in theAndes . He bought it for $3,500, with $1,500 down and the balance within two years.Reputation earned
Reeve's first trip in the Fairchild was to fly Mr and Mrs Ole Hay and their two children, aged 4 and 4 months, to Nome. Just out of McGrath, they ran into dense ice-fog, a complete white out, so Reeve landed on the frozen Kateel River and the made camp. After 25 hours, conditions had improved sufficiently for them to continue as far as
Shaktoolik . It took three days to get to Nome, and another ten days before he could leave for Valdez, picking up a medical emergency in Shaktoolik on the way. Again Reeve had to land because of the weather, this time landing on theSkwentna River . Reeve flew the patient to Seward the next day, and when he eventually returned to Valdez, Reeve found that stories of his outward trip were in the newspapers. He was officially initiated into the ranks of the Heroic Bush Pilots.Tilly
In March 1933, Reeve to an order into Chisana. On the way back to Valdez his engine quit and he made a force landing by
Mount Wrangell . He and his passenger usedsnowshoes to walk the convert|20|mi|km to the Nabesna Mine, where owner Carl Whitham assisted them. They returned to Valdez for help, got the spare parts to repair the engine and flew back to the plane, where the three men repaired the engine, using a tree to hoist it clear of the aircraft.During the
Great Depression , there was constant talk of reopening thegold mines. One of the biggest was the Big Four Mine on the Brevier Glacier, only convert|30|mi|km from Valdez, but at and elevation of convert|6000|ft|m. Clarence Poy of San Francisco said he would buy the mine if Reeve flew his supplies and men in. Reeve took the current owner, Jack Cook to the mine to inspect it. The landing spot turned out not to be as good as had been claimed, but although the aircraft was partially buried in soft snow, no damage was done. Reeve later marked out a landing strip with flags and lamp black.Reeve's success with supplying the Big Four Mine let to further contracts with other mines; the Mayfield, Little Giant and Ramsay Rutherford. During this time, Reeve learned more about assessing suitability of landing sites from the air, and developed the technique of dropping supplies by air. Miners being so keen on getting their supplies that they would pay for another load if supplies were damaged when dropped. In 1934, the price of gold almost doubled under the
New Deal Gold Reserve Act and Valdez boomed. In the summer of 1934, Reeve's exploits, including landing on mudflats {having manufactured skis from stainless steel to fit to his aircraft) regularly reached the papers. He received some fan letters, including one from Miss Janice Morisette, who asked if he needed an extra hand. Janice lived about 30 miles from Reeve's hometown. They corresponded for a few months and Janice flew to Valdez in June 1935. Reeve left on a prospecting trip toCanada , but his curiosity got the better of him and he returned within a month. When he first saw her she reminded him of "Tilly the Toiler" and thus the nickname stuck.to celebrate.
Expedition
Reeve made several modifications to his plane, which he tried to keep from the local inspector. When questioned about these, his answers resulted in official approval from the inspector for the modifications.
Reeve received a letter from
Bradford Washburn in January 1937 asking if he could fly a party of climbers to the glacier at the base ofMount Lucania in Canada. Reeve agreed to undertake the task. In April, the bulk of the supplies were flown in. When he flew Washburn and Robert Bates to the site, the weather had turned unseasonably warm and the plane sank up to its belly in slush. It was over a week before Reeve could take off, after the temperature had dropped sufficiently for a crust of ice to form over the slush. The trip was described by Reeve as the "most hazardous" of his career, but he had set a new world record of convert|8750|ft|m for the highest landing on skis, more than convert|1800|ft|m higher than any in either theArctic orAntarctic .The day after the Washburn trip, the engine of the Fairchild 51 quit. Reeve spent eight months repairing the
Wright Whirlwind engine, but never put it back in the aircraft. He was now back to only one. Reeve made his last glacier landing in 1938, when he flew Brad Washburn to the Mount Marcus Glacier. His brother Richard was killed in a plane crash in 1938 and in the spring of 1939 a storm overturned the Fairchild 71. He spent all summer repairing it, only for the hangar to burn down with the aircraft inside. Reeve bought another Fairchild 71 and spent a further month repairing it. At this time, theCAA came in to regulate flying in Alaska. Pilots were assigned routes under a "grandfather rights " scheme based on the territory they had served for four months prior to August 22 1938. Reeve was given a small area around Copper River. The work available wouldn't support a growing family (at this time they had two children, Richard and Roberta) so they left Valdez in January 1941 for Fairbanks.The war years.
Reeve arrived in Fairbanks and had to borrow $65 to pay his first month's rent.
Noel Wien gave Reeve his first charter, and a life-long friendship was formed. In April 1941, Reeve was one of a few pilots in Alaska without a certified route, and was hired by the CAA to survey the many new airfields planned to be built as part ofHap Arnold 's master plan for Alaska's defense. Whilst the Army and Navy concentrated on building bases at Anchorage and in theAleutian Islands , the CAA was responsible for constructing the airfields in the interior.cite book | first = Stan| last = Cohen| authorlink = | coauthors = | year = 1988| month = | title = Flying Beats Work. The Story of Reeve Aleutian Airways| chapter = Chapter 4| editor = | others = | edition = | pages = | publisher = Pictorial Histories Publishing Company| location = Missoula, Montana| id = ISBN 0-933126-98-0| url = ]The first to be built was the airfield at Northway, convert|100|mi|km east of Fairbanks. The contractors were the
Morrison-Knudsen company (M-K). Supplies were trucked via theRichardson Highway and a summer trail to the Nasbena Mines, 60 miles from the airfield site, and then flown by Reeve to Northway, where anairstrip had been hacked out of the woods. Some items had to be cut into two or three pieces and re-welded at the destination as they were too big or heavy for the Fairchild.Although Reeve was working from dawn to dusk, he couldn't keep up with demand for supplies at Northway, and a backlog built up at Nabesna. M-K ordered a
Boeing 80 A and Reeve was sent toSeattle to collect it. It took five weeks to modify the plane, and when he returned with it to Northway, found a convert|3000|ft|m runway at what was now Reeve Field. The 80A was designed to haul convert|4000|lb|kg but Reeve soon found he could haul convert|7000|lb|kg in it. Reeve was again flying from dawn to dusk, sometimes on only two engines.With the money earned from the CAA contract, Reeve ordered three more aircraft. He bought another Boeing 80A, a Hamilton Metalplane and another Fairchild 71. The army wanted him to survey a route for a
railroad fromPrince George, BC , to Nome. Reeve took the surveyors along the route but on the homeward trip the aircraft - a Fairchild - broke through the ice on theKluane Lake . The aircraft was abandoned but the mission successfully completed. The pass was named Reeve Pass, it is located between Francis Lake and the Salmon River. The Fairchild was left atBurwash Landing , and Reeve hired a pilot to fly the Hamilton from Washington to Alaska. The plane crashed in Washington, killing the pilot and Reeve was broke again, not having enough money even to buy the fuel to fly the Boeing to Alaska. He managed to borrow money from the Pacific National Bank despite them having a rule never to lend to bush pilots.had cost 500 lives. [http://www.geocities.com/alaskanheritage/REEVEFLEET.html geocities] Reeve fleet list.]
Reeves thoughts turned to post-war activities. He knew he would need bigger, faster planes and thought his best hope would be to pick an area that no-one else wanted. Reeve bought a hardware store on Fourth Avenue, Anchorage. An old friend, Carl Whitham came to Anchorage, and they formed a partnership to develop some of Whitham's old prospects. Whitham died of cancer in the spring and Reeve's prospecting days were over.
In 1946, Reeve formed "Reeve Aleutian Airways" and was its President until his death in 1980. He allowed his pilots license to lapse in 1948 after he caught himself missing an item on a checklist. Reeve was invited to run for territorial governor of Alaska in 1952, but decided against this due to a conflict of interests. Reeve receive an honorary Doctor of Science degree at the
University of Alaska in 1963. Reeve was named "Alaskan of the Year" in 1972 and inducted into theNational Aviation Hall of Fame in 1975. He was made honorary Mayor ofShemya in 1978. He died on August 25 1980 and in that year was inducted into the International Aerospace Hall of Fame. The Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum inducted Reeve into the Alaska Aviation Pioneer Hall of Fame on February 25 2005. The Bob Reeve High School in Adak, Alaska was named after him.cite book | first = Stan| last = Cohen| authorlink = | coauthors = | year = 1988| month = | title = Flying Beats Work. The Story of Reeve Aleutian Airways| chapter = | editor = | others = | edition = | pages = Epilogue| publisher = Pictorial Histories Publishing Company| location = Missoula, Montana| id = ISBN 0-933126-98-0| url = ] [http://www.alaskajournal.com/stories/022005/hom_20050220002.shtml Alaska Journal of Commerce] Story] [http://www.afa.org/magazine/hall_of_fame/ Airforce Magazine] ] [http://www.allstar.fiu.edu/aero/reeve.htm Allstar] International Aerospace HoF entry.]"The post war formation and history of
Reeve Aleutian Airways is told on that page.Children
Bob and Tilly Reeve had four children. Richard, Roberta, Janice and Whitham. Richard would become President of "Reeve Aleutian" upon the death of his father.
Aircraft
Bob Reeve's aircraft were:-
Boeing 80A.
* NC224M c/n 1082. Ex Boeing Air Transport (United Air Lines). Rebuilt as an 80A-1 in 1930. To Monterey Peninsua Airways in 1939, then via Charles H Babb to M-K. Accident on March 21 1943 at Anchorage, repaired with parts from NC229M. Given to Bob Reeve in 1946, sat outside Reeve's hangar until 1960 when hauled to the Anchorage landfill. Rescued beore being buried and passed to Boeing Management Association. Aircraft and spares flown to McChord Air Base near Seattle and stored. Eventually restored by Pacific Northwest Aviation Historical Foundation at Auburn and displayed at the
Museum of Flight , Seattle. It is the sole surviving Boeing 80. [http://www.ruudleeuw.com/spl-olddays.htm Ruud Leeuw] Photo of restored aircraft.] [http://www.edcoatescollection.com/ac3/Airline/Reeve%20Airways%20Boeing%2080A.html Ed Coates] Photo] [http://www.aerofiles.com/regs-m.html Aerofiles] Registration details.]* NC229M c/n 1087.Parts from this aircraft were used to repair NC224M after that aircraft had been involved in an accident on March 21 1943 at Anchorage.
* NC793K c/n 1081. Purchased 1942, written off near Cold Bay, Alaska July 5 1943. [http://www.geocities.com/alaskanheritage/REEVEFLEET.html geocities] ]
Hamilton Metalplane.
Reeve purchased a Hamilton Metalplane, but it crashed on the delivery flight. [http://www.airliners.net/open.file?id=0617819&WxsIERv=Unzvygba%20Zrgnycynar%20U47&Wm=0&WdsYXMg=Abegujrfg%20Nveyvarf&QtODMg=Fbhgu%20Fg%20Cnhy%20Zhavpvcny%20%96%20Syrzvat%20Svryq%20%28FTF%29&ERDLTkt=HFN%20-%20Zvaarfbgn&ktODMp=Whar%2022%2C%202004&BP=1&WNEb25u=Enycu%20Z.%20Crggrefra&xsIERvdWdsY=AP879U&MgTUQtODMgKE=Uvqqra%20njnl%20va%20n%20unatne%20V%20sbhaq%20guvf%20trz%20bs%20na%20nvecynar.%20Abegujrfg%20Nveyvarf%20syrj%20gurz%20va%20gur%201920%27f%2F30%27f.&YXMgTUQtODMgKERD=2332&NEb25uZWxs=2004-07-10%2000%3A00%3A00&ODJ9dvCE=&O89Dcjdg=65&static=yes&width=1024&height=717&sok=JURER%20%20%28nvepensg%20%3D%20%27Unzvygba%20Zrgnycynar%20U47%27%29%20%20BEQRE%20OL%20cubgb_vq%20QRFP&photo_nr=1&prev_id=&next_id=0617818 Airliners.net] Photo of a similar aircraft.]
Lockheed Vega 5B
* N9424 Reeve flew a Lockheed Vega when with Panagra in South America. An accident at Santiago led to his resignation and move to Alaska. He is pictured in front of N9424 in Flying Beats Work.
Fairchild 51.
* NC5364 c/n 102. [http://www.aerofiles.com/regs-5000.html Aerofiles] Registration details.] [http://vilda.alaska.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/cdmg13&CISOPTR=1186&REC=20 Alaska.edu] Photograph of aircraft.]
Fairchild 71.
* NC119H c/n 675. Ex Marine Airways. Bought in the winter if 1939/40 to replace NC9745. [http://1000aircraftphotos.com/Contributions/Opland/4440.htm 1000 Aircraft photos] Picture of NC119H.]
* NC9745 c/n 611. This was the aircraft that was blown over, then destroyed in a hangar fire when repairs were nearly complete. [http://www.aerofiles.com/regs-9000.html Aerofiles] Registration details.]
Fairchild FC-2W-2
* NC7034 c/n 136. Ex Utah Oil Refining Company. Bought by Bob Reeve in 1941/42, the frame of the
fuselage is currently on display at the Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum. [http://1000aircraftphotos.com/Contributions/Opland/6968.htm 1000 Aircraft photos] Color photo of aircraft.]Ford Tri-motor
* NC8416 c/n 54. [http://www.aerofiles.com/regs-8000.html Aerofiles] Registration details.]
References
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