Flying Alaska Gold: Grizzlies, Gold, Gangsters
As a native of Montana, DAVID J. HOERNER, was familiar with the backcountry long before he became a pilot. His boyhood home was just outside the border of Glacier National Park where he grew up hunting and fishing the backcountry of Montana, and he was a logger before learning to fly. He is now a commercial pilot with over 25,000 hours flying in Alaska and Montana. Dave is a Part 135 Chief Pilot, owns a Part 141 Flight School for airplanes, and provides helicopter instruction through his flight school. He is a CFII for airplanes, a helicopter instructor, and one of only a few FAA certified pilot examiners for airplanes and helicopters in the United States. Over the years he has carried wolves and grizzly bears in his aircraft while doing some of his many flights for the US Forest Service and the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks. Dave has two children, Ryan and Bree, and resides in Kalispell, Montana.