Long time Alaska aviator and airline owner Cliff Everts of Fairbanks passed away last night in his sleep at 95. Cliff was legend. Cliff and our family go back many many years. Great man.

Kurt

Sorry to hear Cliff has gone west. Cliff was a shrewd business man who succeeded in the aviation business where so many have failed. His fleet of C-46 and DC-6 aircraft were well maintained and worked hard. His kids will doubtless keep all the companies operating smoothly.

It was always fun to get Cliff and Jorge together, with Jorge telling Cliff stories, and both of them laughing.

Rest In Peace, Cliff.

MTV

Indeed an Alaskan aviation legend. RIP Cliff and condolences to the family.

My brother has lived in Fairbanks for about 30 years, and he got to know Cliff when he (my brother) got involved in salvaging out a bunch of old military helicopters for their scrap value. My brother designed and then welded up a big guillotine kind of a thing that chopped the choppers (ha ha) up lickety split. This impressed Cliff and their friendship followed. For years now my Christmas gift from my brother is the new Everts calendar, which has a prime spot on my fridge, it's where I make a note of fly-ins etc. So I kinda knew him, though my brother, and he sounded like a great guy, and what a savvy businessman/pilot to build the biz up like he did. Sorry to hear it.

Just remembered, on the hangar wall is a Everts Freight thermometer, highly prized, more so now.

A photo of N1822M C-46 (nose art “Salmon-Ella”, from her work hauling fish off beaches in Bristol Bay) delivering load of lumber to my cabin site on lake Ice. 22M is one of Evert’s C-46 Aircraft.

“Maid in Japan” on approach to FAI.

Cliff sure accumulated a bunch of interesting planes. It’s fun to nose around the perimeter of his various bone yards to see all the different planes, big and small. One boneyard right across the street from FAI has at least three C-46 fuselages, many engine cans, wings, etc. I don’t know if it has any commercial value today, but I’ve always had the sense that it had tremendous value to Cliff. It’s a pity that he’s passed.

I don't believe I ever met Cliff personally though I drove Jorgy to aviation events all over the place when I was in town. I know Jorgy thought the world of him and the family. He made his last commercial flight in an Everts DC-6 and then ran the business end for a few years. Chapters could be written as these old timers in Alaskan aviation head West.

I've been sitting here trying to remember the guy who had Alaska Interior Airline for which Jorgy also flew. He died within the last ten years I think. I ran into him at some function or other of QB. Maybe MTV can remember his name. Starts Mc or Mac or something.

Jim Magoffin.

Jorgy is a fantastic man, one of the best!

Kurt

Thanks Kurt. He was an interesting type too. He started Interior with a T craft.

Mister701 wrote:Thanks Kurt. He was an interesting type too. He started Interior with a T craft.

Jim’s son is still in Fairbanks, owns his Mom’s old 185 (a beauty) and grandson last I heard was flying for airline. I got him float rated in my airplane because his Grandfathers 180 (which grandson now owns) didn’t have dual controls.

His first solo flight in that 180 required that I tell Grandpa Jim to get away from the float pond.....he was making the youngun mighty nervous.....

MTV

My brother sent me this link on Cliff's passing:https://www.adn.com/bush-pilot/article/legends-alaska-aviation-cliff-everts/2012/10/11/

30,000 hours...what a life, we could all hope our obituary is such a good read.

I was kicking around the Everts hangar in Fairbanks one day and checking out the size of the landing gear of the C-46. The director of ops told me that Cliff got an approval for a 4" bigger tire for the big Curtiss, and then bought his own vulcanizer to make them.

Who'd of thunk it, to put "bushwheels" on a C-46. Good stuff.

There are no actual “simulators” for the DC 6 or C-46, so it was not unusual to see one of these airplanes out shooting practice approaches and landings at FAI in the evenings.

To ease those transitions, Evert’s built a DC-6 procedures trainer. It is, in fact, the whole front end of a real DC-6, mounted inside the second floor of their facility in Fairbanks. Sitting in the classroom, the end of that classroom is the cockpit section of a DC-6. Everything in the cockpit is functional.

Standing below in the engine shop, you look up and you’ll see the entire forward fuselage of the -6 sticking out of the upper wall, replete in Evert’s colors, of course.

MTV