Bush Alaska

Deep in the Alaskan wilderness lives a newly discovered family who was born and raised wild. Billy Brown, his wife Ami and their seven grown children – 5 boys and 2 girls – are so far removed from civilization that they often go six to nine months of the year without seeing an outsider. They’ve developed their own accent and dialect, refer to themselves as a "wolf pack," and at night, all nine sleep together in a one-room cabin. Simply put, they are unlike any other family in America. Recently, according to the Browns, the cabin where they lived for years was seized and burned to the ground for being in the wrong location on public land.

Thousands of outdoor adventure seekers flock to Kodiak Island to experience the wilds of Alaska through hunting, fishing and wildlife viewing expeditions; and Island Air Service makes those once-in-a-lifetime quests a reality. Flying in fog, rain, snow or sleet, moving outdoorsmen, locals, supplies and materials to the farthest corners of the island – it’s all in a day's run for a Kodiak bush pilot and the staff and crew of Island Air.

The Island Air team pilot de Havilland Beavers - single-engine, high-wing, propeller-driven bush planes - and they fly anywhere their passengers need to go...

Travel into the world of the Alaskan Bush Pilot, a world of challenge and danger, not to mention some of the most awe-inspiring sights in the world. There are few runways here, so pilots take off and land on any semi flat surface they can find amid the towering mountain passes, rugged glaciers, gravel bars, mudflats, farms, lakes, streams, beaches or in small clearings hacked out of the wilderness. The weather can change from clear and sunny to white out conditions in minutes, and pilots have to be aware of icing conditions and downdrafts from the sides of mountains. The favored airplanes were designed and built over fifty years ago - still covered with fabric and equipped with balloon tires, skis, or floats. The skill and knowledge required to fly in Alaska's bush country comes only after many hours in the air., flying in all kinds of conditions. Yet, the number of mishaps every year proves that flying in Alaska is a dangerous challenge, even to experienced pilots!

Viewers go deep into an Alaskan winter to meet six tough and resilient residents as they try to stay one step ahead of storms and man-eating beasts to make it through to spring. The closest neighbor to Sue Aikens is more than 300 miles away. Eric Salitan subsists solely on what he hunts and forages. Chip and Agnes Hailstone catch fish for currency in bartering for supplies, and Andy and Kate Bassich use their pack of sled dogs for transportation.