Don Sheldon, Glacier Pilot

Sheldon Air Service is pleased to present a daily screening of Don Sheldon Glacier Pilot, a film about famed glacier pilot Don Sheldon, father to Sheldon Air Service co-owner Holly Sheldon.

Don Sheldon

Don Sheldon, Glacier Pilot tells the engrossing tale of one of the historic pilots of the golden age of glacier flying, Don Sheldon, who, in a relatively short career carved out a legend with his daring and selfless exploits in support of expeditions attempting to climb Denali and his heroic search and rescue flights over forbidding Alaskan terrain.

The film traces Sheldon's career from his arrival in Alaska to his rise to preeminence among an elite subset of  daring Alaskan bush pilots -- the glacier pilots of the Alaskan Range.  Armed with only the two-seat Piper Supercub and the limits of his skill, Sheldon took on weather, terrain and circumstance to perform feats of airmanship that to this day remain unrivaled and have become the stuff of legend.

See the Don Sheldon story in the hangar that houses  N4023Z, the last remaining airworthy Supercub from Talkeetna Air Service. The audience will also have the opportunity to purchase Sheldon Air Service shirts, caps, books and other glacier aviation memorabilia.

Treat yourself to a front-row seat at the stage of history.  Watch Don Sheldon, Glacier Pilot at the Sheldon Air Service hanger. A Sheldon Air Service van will pick you up at our downtown kiosk and transport you to the hanger at the Talkeetna State Airport to watch the show. 

Showiings at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. daily.  Admission is $7.00 per person. 

After the presentation, SAS will provide return transportation to the downtown kiosk. For those who want to live the legacy, flightseeing experiences over Denali can be arranged on the same day, on a space-available basis.

About the film:

Don Sheldon, Glacier Pilot was originally developed and produced by KAKM television station in Anchorage for broadcast on network television.

Presentation of the film was established at Sheldon's old red Talkeetna Air Service hanger (now the Sheldon Community Arts Hanger) on the Village airstrip by the Denali Arts Council in 2005. 

Each following summer the presentation was offered on a daily basis for the public to enjoy. By special arrangement the film is now presented by the Sheldon Air Service, which carries on the legacy of both Don Sheldon and his predecessor, glacier pilot and founder of Reeve Aleutian Airways, Bob Reeve.

Around the Web:

Alaska Travel Magazine  Barry Murry writes of Sheldon - great little video.

AvSim Steve Cartright's Special Feature on Bush Flying with Don Sheldon.

Talkeetna Roadhouse discusses flightseeing and Sheldon