The operation of aircraft beyond the bounds of civilization, in hostile environments and over rugged terrain, required men of high courage, ingenuity, and skill. Robert "Bob" Campbell Reeve was one of these men. From 1928 to 1932, Reeve honed his flying skills by pioneering the air mail routes to South America and across the forbidding Andes mountains. Reeve moved to the territory of Alaska in 1932. Like the vanguard of aero pioneers he joined, Reeve recognized the potential and importance of air transportation in this land of over half a million square miles. Much of this land consisted of uncharted regions of mountains and ice. The technique of taking his ski-equipped Fairchild 51 off from the mud flats of Valdez at low tide to deliver freight to the gold mines high up on the snow covered mountains earned him the proud title of "Glacier Pilot." The hurried military fortifications of Alaska and the establishment of a chain of air bases in the Aleutians during World War II placed him in air operations that required the movement of heavy outsize freight in his Boeing 80. When peace came, it was Bob Reeve who had the experience to establish a viable air service along this storm tossed, volcano infested chain. Beginning with a few war surplus transports in 1946, and without subsidy, he nurtured Reeve Aleutian Airways into a modem airline which served over 22 remote communities over 2,800 route miles.
Inducted in 1980.
Portrait Location: Modern Jet