Just had to get that "dig" in, didn't you, Sweet-Tea? That was
totally uncalled-for and childish.

Kodman - the remote northern parts of Alaska became known as "the
bush" when Australians, visiting the place back in the early 20th
century, recalled how it reminded them of the outback of their own
country (which they call "the bush"). The name stuck. Similarly, as
in Australia, small planes operating in the bush are called "bush
planes", and their pilots are called "bush pilots". Hope that helps!

why do they call it "bush" planes any way?

Very nicely done Sora-kun, I admire the research you put into it and
as much as I hate to admit Jersey is right. Universal actually did
their research and most facts are correct and historical. However
thank you so much for your efforts, we need all the articles we can
get so don't be discouraged and keep on posting more. ^w^

Very good article

I didn't know ANY of this stuff! Great article!!

Hmm . . . that's rather interesting to hear! Well, despite all of the
possible impossibilities that may have been there, at least the
writers of WoC tried to put some historical stuff in a children's
movie . . . nonetheless a Balto DTV sequel. Still, very nice
article!

- Juuchan17

Have you ever ridden in a biplane, ilena? Do you know what sort of
safety harness or seatbelting is in it?

Never say
something's "impossible" unless you speak from first-hand experience.

Great research! Another thing is, how could you strap a dog into the
seat of one of those things, like at the end of B3 when Balto had a
ride in it? IMPOSSIBLE!

No problem, Sora-kun. I hope my post didn't come off as sarcastic or
bombastic. It wasn't meant that way. I was glad to help.

Thank you for the extra material and points, jerseycaptain. The photo
I used claimed it was a bush plane. I should've triple checked!

It helps if you quote your source materials when referring to research
you claim to have done. That is the only way it can be corroborated
and discussed intelligently.

That being said, what you
showed in the photo is not a "bush plane" per se...it is a float
plane...otherwise known as a "pontoon plane" (and known by other
names)...the "Canadian bushplane heritage centre" is being quite broad and encompassing in their definition of the term "bush plane", which was created by Australian immigrants to Alaska...not Canada. Bush planes at the time were single-prop, single-engine
bi-planes. After World War I (which, I might add, is still several years before the serum run in 1925), Alaska was using "Standard J1
bi-planes" made by the Fairbanks Airplane Corporation (which were also
World War I military surplus). These were used in commercial service,
mostly as mail carriers and communications transports. The animators in Balto and Balto 3 were neither stupid nor erroneous in what they represented on screen. Those were fairly accurate representations. The details on
this may be found here (in the post about Balto 2 & 3):


http://baltosource.timduru.org/board/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=18962

This information comes from the book "The Cruelest Miles",
by Gay & Laney Salilsbury, which is all about the 1925 Nome Serum
Run.

Later bush planes were small, mostly single-engine
prop planes as well. And the term is still in use today.

you have a great point!The animaters seem stupid now...it seems that
Balto Source is smarter then the movie makers who should of known this
if they were actualy doing anything!!!!!!!!

Hmm. Perhaps Duke was offering to use it for deliveries as an
experiment of sorts.

Were the writers of WoC aware of this?

Whoa! I didn't know that! That's so true and very interesting!!

Hrm My research long ago was to see what model of a Plane model was
used on Balto movies. I haven't made any historical research about the
Airplane's stories in Alaska but only about the model. Must say that
it looked a lot alike with D.H.4 Two Seat Ground/Fighter biplane. Then
yet again it was like J-2 Biplane (I guess it was J-2)...yet weren't
sure which was used the most. Nice article anyway little ol' history
of Alaska in 1920 century...is it pure fact that the Bush planes were
used only in the 1940 and not before that?

Very interesting Article! I didn't know that much about Bush
Planes!