Robert Campbell Reeve - The War Years

The War Years

Reeve arrived in Fairbanks and had to borrow $65 to pay his first month's rent. Noel Wien gave Reeve his first charter, and a lifelong friendship was formed. In April 1941, Reeve was one of a few pilots in Alaska without a certified route, and was hired by the CAA to survey the many new airfields planned to be built as part of Hap Arnold's master plan for Alaska's defense. Whilst the Army and Navy concentrated on building bases at Anchorage and in the Aleutian Islands, the CAA was responsible for constructing the airfields in the interior.

The first to be built was the airfield at Northway, 100 miles (160 km) east of Fairbanks. The contractors were the Morrison-Knudsen company (M-K). Supplies were trucked via the Richardson Highway and a summer trail to the Nasbena Mines, 60 miles from the airfield site, and then flown by Reeve to Northway, where an airstrip had been hacked out of the woods. Some items had to be cut into two or three pieces and re-welded at the destination as they were too big or heavy for the Fairchild.

Although Reeve was working from dawn to dusk, he couldn't keep up with demand for supplies at Northway, and a backlog built up at Nabesna. M-K ordered a Boeing 80A and Reeve was sent to Seattle to collect it. It took five weeks to modify the plane, and when he returned with it to Northway, found a 3,000 feet (910 m) runway at what was now Reeve Field. The 80A was designed to haul 4,000 pounds (1,800 kg) but Reeve soon found he could haul 7,000 pounds (3,200 kg) in it. Reeve was again flying from dawn to dusk, sometimes on only two engines.

With the money earned from the CAA contract, Reeve ordered three more aircraft. He bought another Boeing 80A, a Hamilton Metalplane and another Fairchild 71. The army wanted him to survey a route for a railroad from Prince George, BC, to Nome. Reeve took the surveyors along the route but on the homeward trip the aircraft - a Fairchild - broke through the ice on the Kluane Lake. The aircraft was abandoned but the mission successfully completed. The pass was named Reeve Pass, it is located between Francis Lake and the Salmon River. The Fairchild was left at Burwash Landing, and Reeve hired a pilot to fly the Hamilton from Washington to Alaska. The plane crashed in Washington, killing the pilot and Reeve was broke again, not having enough money even to buy the fuel to fly the Boeing to Alaska. He managed to borrow money from the Pacific National Bank despite them having a rule never to lend to bush pilots.

Reeve flew back to Juneau unannounced, and was almost shot down because he didn't identify himself. He returned to working for the CAA, now earning $80 an hour with fuel supplied flying supplies, materials and workers to the new airfields being constructed at Big Delta, Tanacross, Galena, Moses Point and Nome, doing all the flying and maintenance himself and regularly working 15 hour days. In November 1942 Reeve signed a contract with the Alaska Communications System (ACS) and moved his family to Anchorage. The contract with ACS involved flying all over Alaska, the Aleutians and western Canada. On July 5, 1943 Reeve was flying radar equipment and four technicians from Cold Bay to Amchitka when he ran into zero-zero visibility conditions. During 1942 Reeve purchased a Fairchild FC-2W-2. A forced landing was made 20 miles east of Cold Bay. Reeve managed to salvage his radio, but the uninsured plane was written off. The delay in the delivery of the radar parts allowed the Japanese to evacuate Kiska undetected, which may have saved American lives, as when US forces landed on Kiska they found it deserted. Previously the Battle of Attu had cost 500 lives.

Reeve's thoughts turned to post-war activities. He knew he would need bigger, faster planes and thought his best hope would be to pick an area that no-one else wanted. Reeve bought a hardware store on Fourth Avenue, Anchorage. An old friend, Carl Whitham came to Anchorage, and they formed a partnership to develop some of Whitham's old prospects. Whitham died of cancer in the spring and Reeve's prospecting days were over.

In 1946, Reeve formed Reeve Aleutian Airways and was its president until his death in 1980. He allowed his pilots license to lapse in 1948 after he caught himself missing an item on a checklist. Reeve was invited to run for territorial governor of Alaska in 1952, but decided against this due to a conflict of interests. Reeve received an honorary Doctor of Science degree at the University of Alaska in 1963. Reeve was named "Alaskan of the Year" in 1972 and inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1975. He was made honorary Mayor of Shemya in 1978. He died on August 25, 1980 and in that year was inducted into the International Aerospace Hall of Fame. The Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum inducted Reeve into the Alaska Aviation Pioneer Hall of Fame on February 25, 2005. The Bob Reeve High School in Adak, Alaska was named after him.

The post war formation and history of Reeve Aleutian Airways is told on that page.