Palmer, Alaska: The Pulse of Backcountry Aviation

For years, I had dreamed of visiting Alaska, especially as my passion for backcountry flying grew and my travels and lifestyle gradually took me farther west. So needless to say I was in hog heaven earlier this year on my inaugural trip to our nation’s Last Frontier. 

As I’m lacking wings and the 100LL budget to fly to Alaska on my own dime at this point in my life, I did the next best thing and hopped on a Delta Air Lines flight from Seattle to the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (PANC). 

After drooling from my window seat at the sheer expanse and views, I could hardly contain my excitement after touching down. Once my rental car was secured, I headed to the lot in near freezing temperatures, even though it was in the middle of the afternoon in early May, and started my drive toward the first town on my great Alaskan adventure—Palmer. 

Aside from seeing Lake Hood, located almost immediately outside the airport, the sights and sounds of Anchorage were far from what I was excitedly anticipating. Instead of the beautiful scenery and city I had imagined, Anchorage reminded me more of Flint, Michigan, on a gray winter day than the rugged frontier I had expected to find.

Luckily as I departed the Anchorage area, the landscape and beauty began to take shape in more of the way I was expecting. 

Nestled between the Talkeetna and Chugach mountain ranges and fed by the Matanuska River, Palmer quickly started making me feel like I hadn’t just imagined a place that simply didn’t exist. At just over 5 square miles in size and with a population of about 6,700, it serves as a regional hub for the rapidly growing Mat-Su Borough, an area rooted in Alaskan agriculture. 

Although Palmer was a welcome sight from Anchorage, I couldn’t help but feel a touch of unseasonably seasonal depression start sliding in. Although this was May, the weather was 32 degrees, misty, windy, and ceilings that were blocking my mountain views. “How can people live here?” I began to wonder. 

But I knew I’d better shape up, because I’d be spending several days there for the Alaska Airmen’s Association’s Great Alaska Aviation Gathering and to visit McFarlane Alaska, home of Airframes Alaska and Alaskan Bushwheels, formerly part of Alaska Gear Company. 

After checking into the Grand View Inn and Suites, which is a far cry from any sort of  typical chain/Hilton property, and fighting my strong need and desire for a nap, I changed into something more practical for conditions and headed to McFarlane Alaska for a dinner to kick off the AAA’s Great Alaska Aviation Gathering. 

Serving as the unofficial start to Alaska’s flying season, the event brings together pilots, aircraft owners, mechanics, aviation businesses, and enthusiasts from across Alaska and the Lower 48. The latest aircraft, avionics, backcountry equipment, and aviation services are on display, while educational seminars, safety presentations, networking opportunities, and hands-on demonstrations give pilots and enthusiasts an opportunity to come out of hibernation, so to speak. 

Stef Goza, a local pilot and Palmer resident, whose byline you will find more than once in this September/October issue of Plane + Pilot as a Recreational Aviation Foundation state liaison, was the first to welcome me to her home turf. One by one so came the others. Everyone was surprised to see me in their neck of the woods but so incredibly happy to have me there and show me the ropes. 

Within no time, I also found myself catching up and chatting with the McFarlane team’s parent company, Victor Sierra, and its vice president of sales and marketing, John Herman, who was largely responsible for putting the idea of this trip into my head. 

After catching up with new and old friends and enjoying a meal together, I was treated to a tour of the Alaskan Bushwheel and Airframes Alaska headquarters. Watching each bushwheel come together by hand felt like being a kid in a candy store. I even felt that childish temptation of wanting to slip a Baby Bushwheel tailwheel into my pocket. Thankfully, I resisted. 

If you do find yourself in the Palmer area, I can’t recommend visiting the McFarlane facilities enough. It was a real treat to meet the team and to see the time, energy, and care that goes into its products—and to pick up a little bushwheel swag. 

Just outside of McFarlane Alaska headquarters sits Warren “Bud” Woods Palmer Municipal Airport (PAAQ), a bustling general aviation airport featuring two paved runways and a dedicated gravel runway. Framed by stunning mountains, visible when weather allows, the airport supports flight training, aerial firefighting, charter operators, air cargo, aircraft maintenance, and recreational flying, with more than 220 aircraft based on the field. 

Beyond the municipal airport are at least seven privately owned airstrips within the immediate vicinity, while the Greater Palmer-Wasilla area contains dozens more grass and gravel strips. Together, the airport network serves as a gateway to the state’s wilderness and backcountry flying destinations.

Although this area is known as a hotbed for general aviation access and opportunity, I unfortunately didn’t get a chance to see Palmer from the air. Nearly 10 days of persistent rain, low ceilings, and chilly spring weather kept my feet firmly planted on the ground. Yet what surprised me most was how little the climate seemed to affect the locals.

Back in the Lower 48, a cold, gray, and rainy stretch like that in early May would have most people staying indoors. In Palmer, it was just another day. 

After spending hours outside in the brutal wind and cold at the Alaska Airmen Association’s event, pilots and locals gathered at Palmer Alehouse, the town brewery, where the night was danced away to one of the best live bands I’ve ever seen. Everyone enjoyed each other’s company as if the weather outside were 75 degrees and sunny.

I think everyone was simply grateful there wasn’t still 10 feet of snow on the ground. Meanwhile, I couldn’t stop thinking that I should have been curled up inside under a warm blanket.

After four days of nonstop Palmer action, albeit without a single flight due to the interesting conditions, I found a place where aviation is so deeply rooted in the town’s DNA that most folks don’t even feel the need to strike up a conversation with a stranger wearing a hat with an aviation logo. In a town like Palmer, where airplanes are the equivalent to pickup trucks, it’s far more than a hobby—it’s a way of life. 

This article first appeared in the September/October 2026 Issue of Plane + Pilot magazine.