@ Anchorage, AK
May 2023
Nicknamed the “The Pinocchio”, this former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service aircraft was spotted here at the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. Built in 1952, this aircraft started out as an ordinary de Havilland Beaver serving with the Cuban military. Its transformation into something extraordinary began when the Service acquired it as surplus in 1964 and modified with a Garrett turbine and a new tail. This unique Beaver was used for survey work in Alaska, Canada, Mexico and Russia, logging nearly 15,000 hours of waterfowl surveys by the time it retired in 2011.