Wien Air Alaska - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Wien Air Alaska (IATA: WC) was formed from Northern Consolidated Airlines and Wien Alaska Airways. The company was famous for being the first airline in Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

, and one of the first in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

History

Noel Wien

Noel Wien was an American pioneer aviator. He was the founder of Wien Air Alaska, Alaska's first airline.-Biography:...

flew an open cockpit biplane, a Hisso Standard J1 from Anchorage, Alaska's "Park Strip" to Fairbanks

Fairbanks

Fairbanks may refer to:Places in the United States*Fairbanks, Alaska, city*Fairbanks, California, unincorporated community in El Dorado County*Fairbanks, Mendocino County, California, former settlement*Fairbanks, Indiana, unincorporated community...

Alaska on July 6, 1924.

In 1925 Noel Wien purchased a Fokker F-3 Monoplane with cabin built in 1921 in Amsterdam for the Fairbanks Airplane and it was shipped to Seward, Alaska via boat. Then shipped in pieces via the Alaska Railroad

Alaska Railroad

The Alaska Railroad is a Class II railroad which extends from Seward and Whittier, in the south of the state of Alaska, in the United States, to Fairbanks , and beyond to Eielson Air Force Base and Fort Wainwright in the interior of that state...

to Fairbanks. Ralph Wien, Noel's brother came with him, to work as a mechanic. They assembled the Fokker F-3 Monoplane in Fairbanks.

Noel taught Ralph how to fly.Ralph was killed on October 12, 1930 while flying a diesel powered Bellanca Bush plane.

The airline was started in June 1927 by Noel Wien

Noel Wien

Noel Wien was an American pioneer aviator. He was the founder of Wien Air Alaska, Alaska's first airline.-Biography:...

in Nome, Alaska

Nome, Alaska

Nome is a city in the Nome Census Area in the Unorganized Borough of the U.S. state of Alaska, located on the southern Seward Peninsula coast on Norton Sound of the Bering Sea. According to the 2010 Census, the city population was 3,598. Nome was incorporated on April 9, 1901, and was once the...

, but traces its roots back to Noel's 1924 to 1926 flights out of Fairbanks

Fairbanks, Alaska

Fairbanks is a home rule city in and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska.Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska, and second largest in the state behind Anchorage...

with Bennett Rodebaugh's Fairbanks Airplane company which was later absorbed into Wien Alaska Airways.

The company pioneered jet service to gravel runways and developed the B737 Combi configuration which allowed a maximization of freight and passenger loads on the upper deck of jet aircraft. Wien Air Alaska at one time flew to more places in the world than any other airline excluding Aeroflot

Aeroflot

OJSC AeroflotRussian Airlines , commonly known as Aeroflot , is the flag carrier and largest airline of the Russian Federation, based on passengers carried per year...

. By the early 1980s their route network extended from Point Barrow

Point Barrow

Point Barrow or Nuvuk is a headland on the Arctic coast in the U.S. state of Alaska, northeast of Barrow. It is the northernmost point of all the territory of the United States, at...

and dozens of Alaskan towns all the way down to Phoenix

Phoenix, Arizona

Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...

, Oakland

Oakland, California

Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...

, and Denver. Their main bases were in Anchorage

Anchorage, Alaska

Anchorage is a unified home rule municipality in the southcentral part of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the northernmost major city in the United States...

and Seattle.

His brother Sigurd Wien was a mechanic 1935 to 1937 as a mechanic. Noel taught Sig how to fly. Starting in 1937, Sig was also a bush pilot. Sig managed the Nome, Alaska Office and flew the North Slope bush flights. Sig Wien, as a bush pilot, flew contracts for [USGS] geologic exploration activities including geologist Marvin Mangus

Marvin Mangus

Marvin Dale Mangus was an American geologist and landscape painter.- Early life :Marvin Mangus was born in Altoona, Pennsylvania. His father, Alfred Ross Mangus , initially worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad in Altoona, but later started Mangus Express Company, a small trucking company based in...

. Sieg Wien became CEO of Wien Airlines after his brother Noel Wien

Noel Wien

Noel Wien was an American pioneer aviator. He was the founder of Wien Air Alaska, Alaska's first airline.-Biography:...

retired from management activities [1940 to 1969].

Expansion came at a price as Wien was pushed to the brink of bankruptcy. Household Finance then dumped its investment in the airline and sold the company to Wien’s President, Jim J. Flood. He shut down the airline and on November 23, 1984 Wien was liquidated for profit. Noel's son, Merrill, said the end of his family's airline came when it "was bought by a corporate raider on a leveraged buyout and was liquidated for about twice what the stock was selling for. The Airline Deregulation Act

Airline Deregulation Act

The Airline Deregulation Act is a United States federal law signed into law on October 24, 1978. The main purpose of the act was to remove government control over fares, routes and market entry from commercial aviation...

of 1978 made this possible." in an interview with Avweb.[2]

Before Wien Air folded in 1985, they were known as the second oldest airline in the United States.

Noel Wien's son flew in an open cockpit biplane from Anchorage, Alaska's Park Strip to Fairbanks

Fairbanks

Alaska on July 6, 1999 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of his father's solo flight in a Hisso Standard J1. The municipality of Anchorage allowed the reenactment plane to take off from the grass park, which was used as a runway in 1924.

Due to the rapid increase in Alaska's population of about 160,000 in 1962 to the current population, the Wien brothers have faded into history.

Timeline

Wien Alaska Airways 1927-1930
Northern Air Transport 1930
Wien Alaska Airways 1930-194?
Wien Alaska Airlines 194?-196?
Wien Air Alaska 196?-April 1968
Wien Consolidated April 1968-1974
Wien Air Alaska 1974 -1984
Wien Airlines 1985

Incidents

On December 2, 1968, Wien Consolidated Airlines Flight 55

Wien Consolidated Airlines Flight 55

Wien Consolidated Airlines Flight 55 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight that crashed into Pedro Bay, Alaska on 2 December 1968, killing all 39 on board. The Fairchild F-27B aircraft was operated by Wien Consolidated Airlines, Inc., later Wien Air Alaska, and was en route to Dillingham,...

, a Fairchild F-27B

Fairchild Hiller FH-227

The Fairchild F-27 and Fairchild Hiller FH-227 were versions of the Fokker F27 Friendship twin-engined turboprop passenger aircraft manufactured under license by Fairchild Hiller in the United States...

, crashed into Spotsy Lake, Pedro Bay, Alaska

Pedro Bay, Alaska

Pedro Bay is a census-designated place in Lake and Peninsula Borough, Alaska, United States. The population was 50 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Pedro Bay is located at ....

. All 39 people on board were killed.

On August 30, 1975, Wien Air Alaska Flight 99

Wien Air Alaska Flight 99

Wien Air Alaska Flight 99 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight that crashed into Sevuokuk Mountain, when on approach to Gambell Alaska on 30 August 1975, killing 10 of the 32 crew and passengers on board, including the pilot and co-pilot...

, A Fairchild F-27B, crashed on approach to Gambell, Alaska

Gambell, Alaska

Gambell is a village on St. Lawrence Island in Alaska, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 649.-Geography:Gambell is located on the northwest cape of St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea, southwest of Nome...

. 10 of the 32 passengers and crew on board were killed.

1920s

Standard J-1
Fokker F.III
Fokker F.III
-Bibliography:* de Leeuw, Rene. Fokker Commercial Aircraft: From the F. I of 1918 Up to the Fokker 100 of Today .* Weyl, A.R. Fokker: The Creative Years. London: Putnam, 1965. ISBN 0-85177-817-8....

(operated by Noel Wien at the Fairbanks Airplane Company)
Stearman C3
Stearman C3
|-References:NotesBibliography* Davies, R.E.G. Airlines of the United States since 1914. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1998. ISBN 1-888962-08-9....
Stinson SB-1 "Detroiter"
Stinson Detroiter
|-See also:...

(the 1926 biplane version of the Detroiter)
Hamilton Metal Plane
Thomas F. Hamilton
Thomas Foster Hamilton was a pioneering aviator and the founder of the Hamilton Standard Company.Since 1930, Hamilton Standard was involved with revolutionizing propulsion technology of propeller-driven aircraft, prior to World War II...

1930s

Bellanca
Stinson SM-2 Junior
Stinson Junior
The Stinson Junior was a high-winged monoplane of the late 1920s, built for private owners, and was one of the first such designs to feature a fully enclosed cabin....
Ford Trimotor
Ford Trimotor
The Ford Trimotor was an American three-engined transport plane that was first produced in 1925 by the companies of Henry Ford and that continued to be produced until June 7, 1933. Throughout its time in production, a total of 199 Ford Trimotors were produced...
Fokker Universal
Fokker Universal
The Fokker Universal or "Standard" was the first aircraft built in the United States that was based on the designs of Dutch-born Anthony Fokker, who had designed aircraft for the Germans during World War I. About half of the 44 Universals that were built between 1926 and 1931 in the United States...

1940s

Fairchild Pilgrim
Bellanca Skyrocket
Bellanca Skyrocket
The Skyrocket name was used by Bellanca for a number of different aircraft:* the Bellanca CH-400 Skyrocket* the Bellanca D Skyrocket* the Bellanca F Skyrocket* the Bellanca F-1 Skyrocket* the Bellanca F-2 Skyrocketas well as:...
Travel Air 6000
Travel Air 6000
|-References:NotesBibliography* Auliard, Gilles. "Time Machine." Air Classics, April 2006.* Davies, R.E.G. Airlines of the United States since 1914. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1998. ISBN 1-888962-08-9....
Noorduyn Norseman
Noorduyn Norseman
The Noorduyn Norseman is a Canadian single-engine bush plane designed to operate from unimproved surfaces. Norseman aircraft are known to have been registered and/or operated in 68 countries throughout the world and also have been based and flown in the Arctic and Antarctic regions.-Design and...
Republic Seabee
Stinson SR-9
Stinson Reliant
The Stinson Reliant was a popular single-engine four to five seat high-wing monoplane manufactured by the Stinson Aircraft Division of the Aviation Manufacturing Corporation of Wayne, Michigan.-Design and development:...

"Gull Wing"
Boeing 247
Boeing 247
The Boeing Model 247 was an early United States airliner, considered the first such aircraft to fully incorporate advances such as all-metal semi-monocoque construction, a fully cantilevered wing and retractable landing gear...
Douglas DC-3
Douglas DC-3
The Douglas DC-3 is an American fixed-wing propeller-driven aircraft whose speed and range revolutionized air transport in the 1930s and 1940s. Its lasting impact on the airline industry and World War II makes it one of the most significant transport aircraft ever made...
Curtiss C-46
Cessna 165 Airmaster
Cessna
The Cessna Aircraft Company is an airplane manufacturing corporation headquartered in Wichita, Kansas, USA. Their main products are general aviation aircraft. Although they are the most well known for their small, piston-powered aircraft, they also produce business jets. The company is a subsidiary...

1950s

Douglas DC-3
Curtiss C-46
Noorduyn Norseman
Cessna 170, 180, 195
Beech 18

1960s and 1970s

Cessna 185
Cessna 185
-Specification for differing configurations:-References:* Jan Churchill, Hit My Smoke: Forward Air Controllers in Southeast Asia, Sunflower University Press, Manhattan KS, ISBN 0-89745-215-1...
de Havilland Beaver
Beech 18
Pilatus Porter
Pilatus PC-6
|-See also:-References:* Lambert, Mark. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1993–1994. Coulsdon, UK: Jane's Data Division, 1993. ISBN 0 7106 1066 1.* Taylor, John W. R. Janes's All The World's Aircraft 1965–66. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, 1965....
Douglas DC-4
Douglas DC-4
The Douglas DC-4 is a four-engined propeller-driven airliner developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It served during World War II, in the Berlin Airlift and into the 1960s in a military role...
Lockheed L-749 Constellation
Lockheed Constellation
The Lockheed Constellation was a propeller-driven airliner powered by four 18-cylinder radial Wright R-3350 engines. It was built by Lockheed between 1943 and 1958 at its Burbank, California, USA, facility. A total of 856 aircraft were produced in numerous models, all distinguished by a...
de Havilland Twin Otter
Fairchild C-82
Douglas DC-3
Curtis C-46
Shorts Skyvan
Fokker F-27
Fokker
Fokker was a Dutch aircraft manufacturer named after its founder, Anthony Fokker. The company operated under several different names, starting out in 1912 in Schwerin, Germany, moving to the Netherlands in 1919....

Boeing 737
Boeing 737
The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...

– Wien was the launch customer for the 737-200 Combi passenger-freight aircraft, and one of the first U.S. operators starting in May 1968 with aircraft N461GB. One aircraft was later delivered to First Air
First Air
Bradley Air Services Limited, operating as First Air, is an airline headquartered in Kanata, Ontario, Canada. It operates services to 30 communities in Nunavut, Nunavik, and the Northwest Territories. The majority of its fleet is available for charters worldwide...

and crashed operating as First Air Flight 6560
First Air Flight 6560
First Air Flight 6560 was a charter flight being operated by Boeing 737-200 registered C-GNWN, a passenger-cargo convertible aircraft on 20 August 2011 when it crashed approximately from Resolute, Nunavut, Canada...

External links

Sources

Ira B. Harkey Jr.
Ira B. Harkey Jr.
Ira B. Harkey Jr. was an author of books, professor of journalism, and editor and publisher of the Pascagoula, Mississippi Chronicle-Star from 1951 to 1963...

, Noel Wien - Pioneer Alaska Bush Pilot, and discussions in 2005 with Merrill and Richard Wien, sons of the founder.
http://www.avweb.com/news/profiles/182141-1.html?type=pf Merrill Wien interview, by Joe Godfrey Avweb 2002
http://www.faculty.uaf.edu/ffcnd/newsminer/businessissues/060305.html Wien Airlines, a good example of how to bankrupt a company by Charlie Dexter, U. of Alaska, Fairbanks

CHAPTER FOUR - The Wien Brothers The Last of the Bush Pilots (Mass Market Paperback - Bantam Air and Space Series)
by Harmon Helmericks, copyright 1969, pages 43 to 58 ISBN 0-553-28556-4

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