Flight Training in the Scenic, Wild Last Frontier

His flight training business, FLY8MA, moved with him to Big Lake, about an hour north of Anchorage. The company and its staff of full-time, experienced flight instructors invite adventure seekers to experience what flying in Alaska is like. 

“It’s not just about the training or getting a tailwheel endorsement—that’s a very lower 48 [way of thinking],” Kotwicki said. “The wilderness that you see here, even the best photographer and videographer can’t capture. It can only be experienced, and that’s what I want to provide for people that come here.”

Alaska is a land of extremes that attracts people who enjoy challenges, Kotwicki said. In that vein, he has spent a considerable amount of effort to transform his 115-acre property into a destination for flight training. 

“We get people that visit for a variety of reasons, whether to do flight training or a scenic tour with us in our Cessna 206 that we have on a Part 135 certificate,” Kotwick said. “So, we have pilots and nonpilots that come here and those that train with us, [and] most want to experience what flying in Alaska is like.They may want to fly a Cub on 35s [inch tires] while at the controls when landing on a mountaintop or landing on a crystal blue alpine lake in a Super Cub on floats with glaciers all around.

“So, we will work with them to the extent of what they want to do. And what I mean by that is we can show them a lot of cool stuff, or there may be a specific goal they are trying to achieve that we are going to train towards.” 

Kotwicki’s flight training company’s headquarters is based on the property, which is also home to FLY8MA Pilot Lodge Airport (57AK). There are two gravel runways and an under-construction control tower, in addition to short-term rental facilities used by students and other visitors. 

The first four overnight accommodations built on-site are standard one-bedroom, one-bathroom cabins. These units are modern and feature heated floors, but Kotwicki wanted to add some additional flavor to the airport. 

“I thought, ‘Well, what would be cooler than these cabins?’” he said. “‘We could get an airplane and turn it into a house.’ So, I spent about eight months calling around trying to find who would sell me an airplane. Finally, someone said yes but said that I would have to come and get it [a Douglas DC-6] right away or they would charge a ramp storage fee.

“During the long drive on the way to pick up the airplane I thought, ‘I have no idea what I’m getting myself into.'"

Cleaning, reconstructing, insulating, and furnishing the retired aircraft into its present state were aggravated by the cold Alaskan winters. In total, it took about two years between transporting the DC-6 (in pieces on a flatbed trailer) to its new home and the first guest being welcomed. 

Two more decommissioned transport category aircraft have since been added to the airport and its rental availability page, a Douglas DC-9 and a Boeing 727. 

The DC-6, for example, can accommodate up to six guests. There are two bedrooms, a living room, and a cockpit, complete with a coffee station and beer fridge. Where else can you sit behind the yoke with a cold one in hand? 

Guests’ fondness for the existing overnight aircraft rentals has inspired Kotwicki to add another retired airplane to the lineup. He just closed on a Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar, which he intends to turn into a summer-only rental that keeps most of the original systems inside intact.  

“This is a place to preserve the history of these aircraft and get you up close and personal, whether that be the avionics and controls of a 727 and all of the associated systems, or face to face with an 800-pound grizzly on a beach you flew to in a Super Cub with your flight instructor from our lodge,” Kotwicki said. “The experience of getting to touch and feel every inch of the aircraft, walk around outside to poke your head up in the avionics bay or gear bays, see all of the systems, or just the novelty of barbecuing steaks on the wing deck, [it’s an] experience [those who visit] all say is simply one of a kind.”