Alaska Airlines’ Fascinating Route To Adak Via Cold Bay

Flew there in the Herc C-130 for Alaska Airlines. Picked up sea otter's & brought them to Sitka. That was to protect them from an atom blast,which was detonated under ground. Also flew in the Atom Bomb. At that time i was a fLIGHT ENGINEER. Paul Schneider

In the early 90’s I used to fly between ANC and Magaden, Russia (GDX) on Alaska Air. The plane would then continue to Vladivostok where it would overnight before returning. The schedule was once a week. It was a 4 hour flight across the Bering Sea to Magaden. The plane was a MD 80, a somewhat inappropriate aircraft due to the limited hold capacity. One could only take 1 checked bag because the limited hold capacity was taken up by a large amount of spare parts. There was no possibility to have the plane serviced en route and a flight mechanic flew on every flight. The rear seats of the aircraft always had a significant amount of luggage strapped in that would normally be in the hold. The views out the window were mesmerizing and surreal; a totally different world compared to your usual transcon. It is an old, unusual route that is ancient history today. I can imagine that the trip to Adak is as equally exotic today except you don't need a passport.

I’ve done the Adak flight several times, and it is indeed special! It’s a very expensive ticket, so it’s usually cheaper to buy AS miles to redeem an award flight for as little as 5,000 miles from Juneau or Anchorage (compared to paying $1200+ cash). Adak itself is fascinating. During the Cold War, it was the 4th largest city in Alaska. No one knew about it, though, as the Navy base was top secret and only those with military orders could visit. The base closed in 1997, and the island has been stuck in time for 23 years. All of the buildings are open, including the air traffic control tower, bunkers that stored nuclear weapons, fallout shelters, aircraft hangars, and an entire underground city featuring swimming pools, a movie theater, radio station, etc. When you tire of exploring the military based, Adak has phenomenal bird watching and many people visit for caribou hunting. A few enterprising residents rent houses on the former base, as well as pickup trucks. These “Dodge and Lodge” rates usually go for about $150/day with a one-week stay. There are only two flights a week, so it makes sense to stay a while. You really need to bring your own food, as the store is very limited and the single restaurant/bar is not very predictable. If you can make it, go!

Adak still civilization compared to Shemya...https://www.airnav.com/airport/PASY

I have been to Cold Bay and Dutch Harbor. I have not been to Adak. Adak sounds like an interesting place to visit. I have been to all three of the Wrangell Islands in the State of Alaska and even to Bennett Island, De Long Island which is farther West of Adak. At Cape Hawai’i on Wrangell Island (known also as New Columbia Land until July 29, 1901), Alaska one can view the markings in the grown where STOL aircraft have landed and taken off. It was on August 12, 1881 that a landing party from the USRM Steamer Thomas CORWIN took formal Possession of New Columbia Land for the US Government. Then on May 17, 1884, the Alaska Board at the US Department of the Treasury place six additional island in Alaska in the District of Alaska, viz., Bennett, Forrester, Henrietta, Herald, Jeannette, and Wrangell. This was done under the authority of Section 1 of the Harrison Alaska Organic Act. It was also confirmed by the US Board on Geographic Names on July 29, 1901.