The following is reprinted from Stehekin Heritage Guidebook 2015. Ernie built Chelan Airways on service.
Ernie
Gibson, long time owner-pilot of Chelan Airways, spent much of his time
transporting folks to and from Stehekin in a wide assortment of aircraft.
Everything from fishing trips into Trapper and Domke Lakes to emergency flights
to help someone in serious need of medical help. We remember him fondly as a
quiet, superb pilot and friend.
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Valley potluck for
Ernie Gibson when he retired from Chelan Airways
photo by Nancy Barnhart |
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Ernie Gibson holing a fish he caught at Trapper Lake.
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Ernie Gibson on the dock, at Stehekin, with his Cessna
180
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Ernie with his airplane, a de Havilland
Beaver (a 6-seater)
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Chelan Airways plane, back when one could fly in to Trapper lake, on the cover of 1956 Flying Magazine
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Gordon Stuart pushing Ernie's plane away from the dock
at Domke Lake. Ernie spent many years transporting folks in for a stay at the
lake for some great fishing.
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Ernie begins loading freight and folks for a flight from Stehekin dock to Chelan. Chelan
Airways was a great, dependable service for folks based here in Stehekin.
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Thanks for writing about Ernie Gibson. He was a big part of my memories of growing up in Stehekin. After landing at the Golden West docks I was sure to find him in the kitchen with a cup of coffee and a cookie or cinnamon roll fresh out of the oven. A lot of people swore he slept most of the time while flying up and down the lake. Malcolm Keithley
ReplyDeletevery great man. I would fly with him in the 1950s. once in the air he would go to sleep, tell me to keep it level and ask me to tell him when I could see Stehekin. flew my wife Arleen and daughter cindy and groceries in and out there in 1958.
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