Alaska Aircraft Sales

4131 Float Plane Drive

Anchorage, AK 99502

Ph:(907) 243-1966 Fax:(907) 243-1965

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K. GENE ZERKEL

A SHORT HISTORY OF HIS AVIATION CAREER

Kenneth Gene Zerkel was born August 16, 1926 , in his aunt’s farmhouse in Wells County , IN. He graduated high school from Hartford Township , the Gorillas, and enlisted in the US Army Air Corp. as a pre-aviation cadet in December of 1943. However, in those days one had to be 18 ½ years old, so Gene’s Air Corp. career was delayed until February of 1945. During those 15 months, he learned to fly. After going Active Duty USAAC in Feb 45, the end of WWII led Gene to leave the US Army Air Corp. in Nov 45.

He next joined a traveling air show where he performed as a wing walker and also ferried aircraft for the show. As his flying time increased, Gene received his Commercial pilot’s license in 1946 and his Instructor pilot’s license in 1946. He joined Airgo Inc in 1946, as an Instructor Pilot (IP) and Charter Pilot and worked for them until he enlisted in the USAF in 1949. Finally Gene was called to Active Duty with the USAF and sent through Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT) and graduating as an Outstanding Aviation Cadet, Class of 50E, from Reese AFB, TX.

Retained as a B-25 Instructor, Gene was promoted to Wing Instrument Check Pilot, and put on the Multi-Engine Upgrade (MUG) program for instructors. He was next made a member of the Reese AFB Wing Flight Standardization/Evaluation group, serving as the only 2Lt. in the organization. He left the Air Force in August of 1953 to pursue a career as a private-sector pilot.

Gene joined Flying Tiger Lines, located in Burbank , CA , as a Co-pilot/First Officer. Furloughed when Flying Tigers merged with Slick Airways, he left to join Zantop Air Transport in Detroit , MI. He was hired as a Co-pilot/First Officer, but made a Captain within 30 days. Next, Gene was promoted first to Check Pilot, then to Chief Pilot, and finally to Director of Operations for Zantop. In 1966, Zantop was sold to Universal Consolidated Industries and Gene became Vice President of Operations and Maintenance. Shortly thereafter, he was promoted to Senior V.P. and converted the fleet from piston to turboprop to jet aircraft. At that time, Universal was flying Lockheed Electras and DC-8s. In 1970, he joined Saturn Airways as a Senior V.P. of Operations and Maintenance and stayed there until his resignation in 1974.

In January of 1974, Gene moved to Fairbanks , AK , where he purchased a controlling interest in Fairbanks Air Service. Renaming the airline, Great Northern Airlines, he acquired Lockheed Electras and Convair 580s, and expanded charter and scheduled airline service to provide passenger and freight service throughout Alaska . In 1981, he sold the airline to Neil Bergt, owner of Alaska International Air, and spent the next two years pursuing entrepreneurial endeavors in Anchorage , AK . One of these was the founding of Alaska Aircraft Sales at Lake Hood , the busiest seaplane base in the world.

In 1983, Neil Bergt requested Gene come back to the airline business, hiring him as Vice President of Operations for his newly renamed MarkAir airline, operating 737s and C-130 Hercules throughout Alaska . Gene set up a dispatch center in Anchorage and helped guide the airline throughout the 1980s to become Alaska ’s largest in-state carrier. In 1988, he was promoted to V.P. of Operations and Maintenance. In 1990, MarkAir took on Alaska Airlines in the Anchorage-Seattle market, among others, and a costly battle between the two airlines ensued.

Gene again turned his concentration towards Alaska Aircraft Sales and began development of the Alaska Magnum Beaver, a specially modified DeHavilland Beaver that has become known throughout the aviation community as an exceptional flying machine. He obtained an airline operating certificate in 1991 and re-started Great Northern Airlines, providing passenger and freight service between Anchorage and Seldovia beginning 1992. He expanded into the air charter business, founding Great Northern Air Guides, and began offering fly-in fishing, hunting, and flightseeing trips in south-central Alaska.

On May 4, 2007, Gene was awarded the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award from the Department of Transportation/Federal Aviation Administration in recognition of his more than 50 years of promoting aviation safety within the aviation industry.

Gene is currently the part-owner and President of Alaska Aircraft Sales and can be contacted at (907) 243-1966 or e-mailed at aas@gci.net.