On the wings of history

WASILLA -- Bryan Carricaburu has been a commercial pilot since 1974, but a flight he made to McGrath this month undoubtedly will be one of his career's most memorable. That's because his 26-year-old son, Brent, was along as first officer of the PenAir Saab 340B.

Bryan was captain for the short June 6 jaunt, which may be the first Saab flight in history piloted by a father and son team.

"It was pretty exciting flying with him for the first time," Bryan said Thursday in the office of his Wasilla home, where the walls are decorated with photos from three decades aloft.

"I always wanted to fly," said Brent. "It's a freedom you can't get anywhere else. My office has the best view in the world."

He began working part-time on the ramp for PenAir in Anchorage in 1997. When Brent qualified for the cockpit, he became PenAir's fifth second-generation pilot.

His father said Brent never really had a chance not to be interested in planes. Both he and brother Justin were born when the Carricaburus lived in Naknek, and the first transportation in their lives was by airplane because there are no roads connecting Naknek with the outside world.

Bryan, now 53, began flying as a senior in high school in California. A classmate, a former Alaskan, told tales of the Last Frontier that stirred Carricaburu's imagination. So he came north after attending San Jose State University and acquiring his commercial and instrument ratings.

"I knew I wanted to fly in Alaska after listening to Larry's stories," Bryan said.

He piloted a Cherokee 6 for Peninsula Airways in King Salmon in the fall of 1974. There were no telephones or televisions in Naknek, 15 miles from King Salmon, and Bryan and his wife traveled between the two communities on the area's only dirt road.

He became chief pilot and station manager of the Cold Bay operation in 1980. Brent often sat on his father's lap while Bryan piloted the Piper Navajos and the Grumman Goose.

By 1983, PenAir began using turbine powered aircraft and Bryan piloted that craft throughout the Aleutian Islands and many other spots in Alaska. He became chief pilot for PenAir in 1986 and moved to the Anchorage office.

When the father and son work together, Bryan will fly one leg and Brent the other. Still, Bryan retains seniority as chief pilot and teases his son about that authority.

"He's got to do what I say," Bryan said with a chuckle.

Like most pilots, the elder Carricaburu recalls some close calls.

"I've had in-flight failures," he said. "Years ago it was more what you'd call bush flights. Sometimes pure adrenaline kept me going."

The elder Carricaburu acknowledges he could make more money flying for a larger company in the Lower 48. But the tradeoffs involved in leaving Alaska don't appeal to him.

"I'm home every night," he said. "It's the quality of life."

Bryan commutes to work in Anchorage, but it only takes 17 minutes in his Piper Warrior. He smiles just thinking about it.

"A bad day is when I have to drive in," he said.