That is my dad and uncle flying that Stearman that is pictured in the article. They flew it off the park strip July 6, 1999 on 10th ave in downtown Anchorage to commemorate the 75th anniversary of when my grandfather did the same flight between Anchorage and Fairbanks in 1924. That was quite a day with quite a crowd. The same Stearman now is based south of Boston. I sold it to Dave in 2004. I really miss it. My uncle flew that airplane north of the Arctic Circle in 1999.

Kurt

I had the privilege of watching George Pappas work his sheet metal magic back in the 80s. I worked for Bud's Aircraft on Merrill Field as an A&P and we did pretty much everything but engine overhaul, avionics and heavy sheet metal repair. George and his helper, whose name I don't remember, would show up to replace a gear box or whatever, work all day and hardly say a dozen words. They both knew the others exact moves and all there was to see was drilling and bucking rivets. When they were done you would have sworn that part of the airplane just rolled out of the factory.
We had a customer that had a Widgeon that we took the engines, wings and tail off of and George hauled it off to his shop. It took quite awhile but he completely rebuilt the airplane and we reassembled it back at Bud's.It was the most beautiful job and had attention to detail that is rarely seen. I see it parked out at Lake Hood these days.
George was a hard guy to get to know and wasn't much of a talker but he was the best sheet metal master I have ever seen. Lots of great people and great memories back then.