From A Brown Truck to Alaska’s Blue Skies

Meet Dawson Simmons: A retired delivery driver from the flatlands of North Carolina who now works as a seasonal bush pilot in Alaska.

Simmons, 57, didn’t follow the traditional route of pursuing a flying career straightaway as a young person. Instead, he first put in 30 years driving for United Parcel Service.

About 10 years into that career, in 2006, he began flying after an introductory flight lesson given to him by his wife. They bought a Cessna 150 and he earned his private certificate. He also began earning other ratings, including instrument, commercial, and float, before selling it. In 2009 he bought a newly-refurbished Piper PA-18 Super Cub and is still flying it today from his private grass strip at the Simmons home about 30 miles from Wilmington, N.C.

When his UPS job ended in full retirement five years ago, he began doing seasonal aviation work for the North Carolina Forestry Service and Penobscot Island Air in Maine.

But his life truly changed three years ago when a friend told him about a flying job in Alaska. Today, he flies a de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver on floats for Rainbow River Aviation in the Bristol Bay area of southwestern Alaska.

There’s probably no one more surprised than Simmons that he spends May to October in Alaska, flying guests in an iconic bush plane to some of the most beautiful fishing and hunting locations in the world.

“I went to their website,” he recalled. “And the thing that caught my attention more than anything else was a quote, ‘The Lord has blessed our business more than we ever deserve.’ I thought, there’s a company in Alaska that needs a pilot and they’re bold enough to give all glory to God. As a Christian, that was confirmation for me to reach out to them.

“So I called and left a message. A couple of days later the director of operations, Chris Hartis, called me. He said he had all the pilots he needed that season, but that next year there might be an opening. Then, two weeks later he called me back. One of the people he hired had another commitment. He was going to be in the area in a few weeks, so we eventually had dinner in Myrtle Beach and talked about the position. Before leaving, Chris offered me a job flying a Beaver in Alaska.”

In May 2023 Simmons flew commercial to Anchorage, arriving at his new job with just a suitcase full of clothes and his headset.

Danny Zito, one of the company’s line pilots, picked him up from the airport. They drove around Lake Hood looking at airplanes and then circled back to Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport to pick up Rainbow’s Chief Pilot Forrest Carpenter.

“Turns out Forrest and I were connected at the hip for the next three weeks as I trained,” Simmons said. “The company airplanes are maintained and stored in Wasilla, Alaska, over the winter. At the time they had six or seven Beavers, two Helio Couriers, and one Cessna 185. Forrest and I picked up a Beaver and flew to Anchorage for four days of training. That was totally over the top for me. I was flying out of the busiest seaplane base in the world — and at the same time trying to comprehend everything Forrest was teaching me.

“We flew the straight float-equipped Beaver out to local lakes to get familiar with the plane and float operations. It was a couple or three hours of flying each day and a lot of class work. Every day I had a big grin from ear to ear while flying the Beaver.”

After his training concluded, the pair flew about 200 miles via the Lake Clark Pass southwest of Anchorage to Iliamna Airport (PAIL), landing at Pike Lake, the airport’s seaplane base.

Simmons explained there are three lodges in the area — Rainbow River Lodge (RRL), Royal Wolf Lodge (RWL), and Iliamna River Lodge (IRL). The company has four pilots based at RRL, three at RWL, and one at IRL. Today the company’s fleet includes eight Beavers, three Cessna 185s, and a Super Cub.

When he first arrived at the lodge, he didn’t fly passengers.

“I loaded, unloaded, and hauled a lot of lumber and other materials, simulating different loads, before transporting passengers,” he explained. “It’s a pretty good workout. My gym is on floats with wings.”

Once he passed that test, he was tasked with flying guests.

“A typical trip for guests is a 40-minute flight, one way. We also drop off and pick up rafters, hunters, and their game,” he said. “When hauling game, all passenger seats have to be removed and a tarp placed on the floor. Now the Beaver smells like your local meat market. After I unload the meat, I have the privilege of cleaning out the plane and putting the seats back in. This can happen several times a day and I wouldn’t trade it for the world!”

He acknowledges that his first year with the company he was “green, inexperienced, and thirsty to learn everything I possibly could.”

“I give all glory to the Lord for helping me through and credit to our team of pilots and staff for their encouragement and helping hands,” he said. “We have a daily preflight briefing where we go over the weather and schedule and end every meeting with a prayer.”

He enjoys flying the Beaver, noting that “when you are airborne in cruise, the Beaver flies like a Big Super Cub.”

“It is a neat airplane to fly,” he continued. “You are holding a yoke instead of a stick and it’s well balanced and light on the controls. The sound of the radial engine is unmistakable. It takes rough air better than anything that I’ve ever flown.”

While he loves flying in Alaska, he said the hardest thing is being away from his wife Debbie.

She has been able to visit each year, “which has meant the world to me,” he said.

“One of the highlights for her is when I have an open seat and she can spend the day viewing the majestic landscapes,” he added.

The flying season for pilots begins in mid-May, with required training and check rides, according to Simmons.

“Guests begin arriving in June and the season usually finishes around the end of September,” he said, noting the first two seasons he flew about 300 hours, while last year he logged more than 400.

“Our guests are looking for a world-class experience and that’s what we try to deliver — whether it’s the fishing, the lodging, the food, the scenic flights, or all of the above.”

He said flying the guests to different fishing spots every day “exceeded all of my expectations.”

“It felt surreal to be flying an aircraft with so much history,” he said. “Now, after three years, I can honestly say I’m just as excited on the last day of the season as I was that very first day back in 2023.”

For more information: RainbowRiverAviation.com, RainbowRiverLodge.com