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HFI INTERVIEW
by Frank Jensen
HFI Interview with Ken Eichner
This article is based on an interview of Ken Eichner by Frank Jensen Jr., Secretary of HFI.
HFI: Ken, having just read your new book "Nine Lives
in. We were issued WWI uniforms, rifles, and
of an Alaska Bush Pilot," I would like to congratulate
communications gear consisting of wire and a handyou on having written an excellent account of your
crank telephone system. We were soon in a war zone so
personal experiences as a pioneer bush pilot, dedicated
we cached food in the hills and thought we were ready
family man, successful business owner, prospector,
to fight the Japanese. Thank goodness we were never
outdoorsman and a highly-respected
put to the test. It would have been a feeble attempt.
humanitarian/rescue pilot. Where can interested
HFI: Wasn't it about this time that you started taking
persons obtain copies of your book?
flying lessons?
Eichner: Thanks for the kind words; I have really
Eichner: I was about to be drafted into the Army, and I
enjoyed my career in Alaska, and writing the book was
was told if I had a pilot's license I could fly something
a lot of fun. The book is available from the publisher,
for the Army. We were in a war zone, and in Alaska
Taylor Press, whose Web site is www.taylorpress.com or
airplanes were necessary transportation so they were
in the library section of www.helicoptersonly.com.
not restricted. So I went down to Ketchikan Air Service
HFI: Do I understand correctly that
on October 4, 1944 to start my
you still own and fly a personal
lessons. It was a "pay as you go" deal,
helicopter?
and lessons were $7.50 per hour. That
Eichner: Yes, I own a Hughes 500D
was a lot of money in those days. It
on popout floats which I use for
took ten months for Peggy and me to
prospecting, recreation, and
scrape up enough money to get my
occasional trips into Canada for a golf
license. I trained in an Aeronca Chief
game. For the last 38 years it has been
and a Taylorcraft on floats, depending
a tradition for me to fly the 50-foot
on which was available. Soon after I
American flag to start the Fourth of
got my CAA license, the draft board
July Parade.
called me to Annette Island to go
HFI: Let's go back in time to when
through the induction process, which I
you first traveled to Alaska, and what
did. However, the draft board failed
you did when you arrived there.
to classify me as 1A. The Army sent
Please tell us about that.
me back to Ketchikan, and soon the
Eichner: In 1938 I dropped out of the
war was over.
University of Oregon because of a
HFI: When did you purchase your
photo courtesy of Clilff Kamm
basketball injury to my leg. I felt I was
first aircraft?
well enough to bum a ride to Alaska
Eichner: That was in April 1947. My
Ken Eichner
on my uncle's fish packer (my dream
partner Duey Barber and I bought a
come true). I did odd jobs for a while and finally got a
Taylorcraft on floats, N36210, from Ketchikan Air
job driving a taxicab. In about six months, I was
Service. We put it to good use hunting, fishing, and
promoted to bus driver but continued to drive the cab
tending a 100-mile trap line for bounty hunting for
in my spare time to pick up a little more cash. My job
wolves. We hauled 250-pound loads of sheet metal
as a bus driver gave me the opportunity to meet a
from an abandoned fish hatchery, enough for a hangar
lovely young lady by the name of Peggy Barton; she and
for me and a sawmill for my friend Earl Walker. This
I were married on August 31, 1939, and we are still
improved my flying skills a lot.
happily married 64 years later.
HFI: When did you make your first search & rescue
HFI: You were in Alaska during WWII, and you
flight?
covered some of your war-time experiences in your
Eichner: In October of that same year, 1947. A Pan
book. You weren't called up for active duty because you
Am DC-4 had crashed in the mountains. There were 25
had a family, and also because your transportation job
or more passengers on board, and all were killed. This
was considered essential to the war effort. However, I
was my first search and rescue flight. I was flying a Tunderstand that you volunteered to serve in the
Craft in mountainous terrain which was new to me, and
Territorial Guard. What did that involve?
I was very uncomfortable and really had no idea what I
Eichner: The Territorial Guard was formed before
was looking for. This event triggered the formation of
WWII with the idea of defending Alaska and providing
the Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad, with whom I
local knowledge for any troops that might be brought
have worked closely ever since.
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Ken Eichner slinging a roll of
wire in Mud Bay for Ketchikan
Public Utilities.
Ken Eichner and his future bride, Peggy Barton.
HFI: And you have certainly been a major part of the
search and rescue over the years since that first search
mission. Ken, you mentioned the environment in
Alaska, and of course that includes mountainous
terrain, a lot of water, weather, with all sorts of heavy
precipitation and wind, ice, lack of navigational aids,
plus plenty of wolves and bear. Your book includes
some very interesting experiences with that
environment. Obviously in an interview of this type we
can't do justice to those experiences. And of course
your experiences with prospecting are also very
interesting. However, the readers of ROTOR magazine
are mostly helicopter types, so we should fast-forward
to when you got your start in helicopters, and then
discuss the beginning of TEMSCO. Is that okay with
you?
Eichner: Okay. In 1951, the first helicopter, a Bell 47,
visited Ketchikan and stirred up some interest. In 1955,
John Scott, with Continental Helicopters, brought two
Ken Eichner in a TEMSCO Hiller.
Bell 47s on a geological survey. The next year Dean
Johnson arrived with a Hiller 360 on a mining job. The
following year, Dean sent Joe Soloy to Ketchikan to do
the mining job. Joe Soloy gave me my first
introduction to the controls of a helicopter in 1957.
Later I had the opportunity to work with quite a few
folks whose names you would recognize, including Arlo
Livingston, Del Smith, Jack Erickson, Wes Lamatta and
his brother Bill, and many others.
HFI: When did you start TEMSCO, and what does the
name mean?
Eichner: Joe Soloy, Bob Young and I started TEMSCO
in December 1959. The acronym comes from the
words: Timber, Exploration, Mining, Survey, Cargo,
Operations. Eventually Joe chose to leave the
company, so Earl Walker, Bob Young and I bought him
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out. Bob was our only pilot, so I needed to get my
helicopter rating. Joe had given me some dual and Bob
also helped me. Finally we got Arlo Livingston to give
Bob and me some training in autorotations. Just before
the flight examiner was to come to town, Phil Johnson
from Hiller showed up in Ketchikan. Phil gave me some
dual autorotations in our UH12B, N5311V, which
instilled great confidence in me. The examiner arrived
and was pleased with the ride I gave him. I
received my add-on pilot's license September 12,
1962 from R. Thwaites.
HFI: Is it true that you actually made your first
helicopter rescue before you had your rating?
Eichner: Yes. It was an emergency situation, and I was
the only person available to rescue a preacher who had
been spotted by an airplane, in trouble, in a bad spot. I
made my first confined-area landing. The preacher had
been overdue a couple days, and he couldn't walk. He
had been eating dead salmon and had lots of bears for
company. I carried him to the helicopter and flew to
safety. Much to the preacher's dismay, I swore him to
secrecy for fear I might not get my license.
HFI: Ken, do you have any idea of how many rescues,
both fixed-wing and helicopter, that you have
participated in?
Eichner: I never kept track of the number of rescues I
was involved in. I did log those flights in the fixed
wing, but when flying helicopters, I logged mostly
Flying old Glory, Ken Eichner flying the flag over Ketchikan on September
14, 2001.
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revenue flights.
The spectacular ones I remember. One week I had
three rescues. The main reason for so many rescues was
the fact that, in that era, the government did not have
the equipment or the ability to perform them. The
Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad, TEMSCO and all
the local pilots were dedicated to search and rescue,
knowing the next one could be for one of us.
HFI: I recall reading that in 1965, after Bob Young left,
you were TEMSCO's only helicopter pilot. That's when
you sent Earl Walker to Burbank for helicopter training
by Loretta Foy. Do you have an estimate as to how
many helicopter pilots TEMSCO now employs?
Eichner: The actual number of pilots, of course, varies
with the seasons. At the busiest time of year,
TEMSCO employs about 50 pilots. My grandson
Eric is now chief pilot.
HFI: I've met Eric, and I'm sure you are very proud of
him. Ken, you commented in the book about the
general lack of sufficient power in the earlier recip
helicopters, and how the Soloy conversions were a big
help in that regard. When did you purchase your first
turbine helicopter, and what was it?
Eichner: That was in the spring of 1971 when we
bought a Hughes 500 with a C18 turbine. This was
probably the start of our growth period throughout the
70s and 80s. We were buying at least four new
helicopters a year. Our fleet of Hughes grew to 26
aircraft, plus a variety of other helicopters and fixed
wing. TEMSCO took on just about anything that
was legal and productive, and was always available
for emergencies.
HFI: What were some of the tasks that TEMSCO's
helicopter accomplished during that time?
Eichner: Well, let's start with TEMSCO's first job which
was supporting White Alice, the nuclear early warning
system being built by the U.S. Government. This project
covered the area from St. Lawrence Island in northern
Alaska into Canada. One of our tasks was to help
engineers install and service radio equipment to provide
VHF line-of-sight signals from mountaintop to
mountaintop in Southeast Alaska, which was often a
challenge with ice and snow. We worked with mining
companies exploring and staking claims on most of the
big discoveries in the 70s and 80s in Alaska. Along with
the every-day work such as: stream surveys, deer, bear,
and goat surveys and tagging, Forest Service work from
spraying sprucebud-worm and surveying timber to
fighting forest fires. We did lots of cargo work because
there was no road system, just waterways, so unloading
barge loads of materials and equipment was a
constant job.
HFI: During your very active flying career, you have
done a lot of pioneering, learning, teaching, and
innovating. Since there was not a great deal of "how-to"
instructions, you had to learn about settling with power,
autorotating with floats, removal of ice from the
helicopter, and many other crucial points that today's
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MedEvac by Ken Eichner in 1976, following an Alaskan airline crash.
pilots are taught by the old-timers. You
were one of the first to excel at long-line
work, I believe. And the "people netter"
you designed and built is another
example of your ingenuity. You are
truly an icon in the helicopter world,
and I really appreciate your taking time
for this interview. Looking back on
your long and versatile career, would
you have any remarks with which to
close out this interview?
Eichner: I think I was about 10 years
behind most of the real pioneers, "my
peers." I was fortunate to be in the era
when helicopters were improved to a
point where you could do a lot more
work safely. But we were also the guinea
pigs for some of the manufacturers. I
probably was not the first to excel in
long-line work, but because of the
remoteness of the area I lived in, and the
work we had to do, we did a lot of firsts
and a lot of good things. I think I was 43
years old when I got into the helicopter
business, and I looked forward to every
day I went to work. I hated to quit at 71.
It's hard to believe I'm now 85!
Ken Eichner as flying prospector.
TEMSCO's
Hughes 500A,
new in 1971.
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