FLOATPLANE HEAVEN Earning a seaplane rating in wild Alaska B Y C R I S TA V. W O R T H Y P H O TO G R A P H Y B Y J O S E P H M . E R I C K S O N It's nearly 9 p.m., yet the sun still hangs high in the sky. As usual when I'm in an airliner, my face is pressed to the window. I want to see every acre of terrain below, understand how it all fits together. After years of flying Cessnas, I have most of America's topography west of the Rockies permanently etched into memory. One of the last missing pieces lies just ahead- Alaska's Kenai Peninsula. As we descend toward Anchorage, I look north and am rewarded with a view of Mount McKinley, 130 miles away. www.aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 51http://www.aopa.org/pilot