Calling All Bush Pilots

Aye, the Cessna 402-c: Got 200 hours in it as well as another 200 hours in the 402-b, both of them with Robertson STOL kits. Flew the B model in the Caribbean to shorts strips in Virgin Gorda (The Fat Virgin) as well as St. Barths and the Spanish Virgin Islands.
Flew the C-402 c model in Alaska, mostly to primitive dirt strips but also to St. Mary’s and Bethel with paved runways doing Part 135 commuter work as well as charters. Super low density altitudes in the winter would make for spectacular take-offs with full loads: The engines pumped out more horsepower than they were rated for, the wings and the props had more air molecules to bite into and life was good.

Not so with the C-402 drug plane that crashed in Papua New Guinea…High density altitude due to hot temperatures and probably no STOL kit and a heavy and profitable load..Bad combo..

I had several offers to haul narcotics in Florida and in the Virgin Islands when I worked there as pilot in the 1980’s, fast money and easy money if everything went well.
Turned it down, life was sweet enough without big money, still is.