Alaska's Women Pilots [Paperback]

Jenifer Fratzke (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2004

Alaska’s climate, extreme topography, and settlement distribution make airplanes and helicopters a crucial means of transportation. Ninety percent of this state is unreachable by road, and at least one third of Alaska’s people live in the bush. In Alaska, travel by air has always been more than just recreational and piloting has always been more than conventional. Alaska pilots are some of the most experienced and skillful aviators in the world, and they run the gamut from commercial pilots to aviation safety inspectors, from big-game guides and bush pilots to aerobatic fliers.

In Alaska’s Women Pilots: Contemporary Portraits, Jenifer Fratzke has compiled seven interviews of contemporary women aviatrices from nearly every reach of that gamut. This collection begins an important documentation of what women have contributed to the aviation industry in Alaska. Fratzke herself has been a flight attendant, flight engineer, copilot, and pilot. Through her eighteen years of experience flying in Alaska, she has tapped into Alaska’s rich and unfolding aviation history by flying with and interviewing many women pilots.

The seven oral histories she includes here explain the women’s motivations for flying; they include the descriptions and praises of mentors that made all the difference; and they recall stories of grief and stories of good fortune. Each personal history is remarkable in what it reveals of the history of aviation in Alaska and the individual contributions that history is built on. These stories are unique and inspirational; at the same time they have an echoing quality that compounds, strengthens, and supports the voices of those who have gone before (Harriet Quimby, Beryl Markham, Pancho Barnes, and many others) and those who may come after.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jenifer Fratzke flew as a commercial, corporate, and recreational pilot in Alaska for nearly two decades. Presently she resides in Montana and is working on a collection of short stories.

Product Details

• Paperback: 248 pages
• Publisher: Utah State University Press; 1 edition (July 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0874215838
• ISBN-13: 978-0874215830
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,690,317 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Makes a great gift for your daughters, October 14, 2007

By 

Nora McDougall "Nora McDougall-Collins" (Missoula, MT United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Alaska's Women Pilots (Paperback)

Thanks for a great book of personal experiences! Kudos from another woman who is in a field that has traditionally had few women - computer science. I had never heard about bush pilots; much less women who would brave the cold and isolation.

Besides enjoying for myself, I bought copies for my adventuresome daughters - another example of women who worked for their goals!

5.0 out of 5 stars An exceptional insight into the lives female bush pilots!, July 24, 2008

By 

D. Gilles "Papa and Mama Bear" (Richland, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Alaska's Women Pilots (Paperback)

I am pleased to have the opportunity to recommend to all of my family and friends the book entitled Alaska's Women Pilots Contemporary Portraits by Jenifer Fratzke. The book is well written and the author has captured the very essence of the adventures, fears, and obstacles to be overcome by women in the male dominated world of Alaskan Bush Pilots. Stories of the author's own flight experiences and stories dictated to her by the other female pilots portray a vivid picture of truly living the adventure and what it must have been like to take the risks to pave the way for future women pilots.

Thank you, Jenifer for sharing your experiences and those of others with us. I look forward to reading more of your works. N. Gilles

1.0 out of 5 stars This book contains lies, August 30, 2007

By 

James Bishop "Jim Bishop" (People's Republic Of China) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Alaska's Women Pilots (Paperback)

Addendum, December 2, 2007.

I am happy to report that the publisher of this inaccurate book has agreed to withdraw it from publication and to destroy all remaining copies. I consider this to be principled and proper reaction to the circumstances and I want to thank the Utah State University Press leadership for its ethical behavior in this matter.

James Bishop, Peoples Republic Of China.

Alaska's Women Pilots
ISBN 0-87421-583-8
Jenifer Lee Fratzke

On page 34 of that book you will find the following text.

The day I got fired, Jim and I went to lunch. He drank two beers and wanted to go flying with me. I had become only because I had scared the hell out of myself numerous times a pretty good instrument pilot. Jim liked to fly with me because he felt comfortable with my knowledge. But I didn't want to fly with him because he'd been drinking. It was a bad situation. I no longer respected him.
He said, "Yes, you will fly with me."
"I can't deal with your drinking," I said
He said something like, "Well fine, I didn't drink."
"What are you talking about?"
"Are you calling me a liar?"
"I'm not calling you anything," I said. "I don't respect you any more."
"You're fired."
"Thank you."

I am the "Jim" of which that passage speaks.

It is entirely false and libelous, charging as it does that I fired Tamar Bailey for refusing to fly with me after I had been drinking.

She was not a current pilot in any aircraft at our airline at the time she was fired. She had opted to become our Operations Manager during that season and had promised that she would not expect to be given a currency ride in the DC 6. As Operations Manager, it was to be her task to coordinate aircraft operations instead of fly. When, at the last moment before our summer workload was to begin, she demanded that she be given a multi-thousand dollar check ride in our line aircraft or she would quit; she was fired. There was no `lunch.' She was fired telephonically.

Legal documents associated and concurrent with her request for unemployment payments will document my statements and may be still obtainable from the State of Alaska.

In any event, the episode was witnessed by a variety of people still available to me and I will accept nothing less than a published, complete retraction and expression of regret if you want to avoid a law suit for liable. All unsold copies of the book must be withdrawn from the market at once. It is inexcusable that the facts in this passage were not checked before publication.