Mark and Doug have returned home from The Great Arctic Air Adventure. Additional pictures and information will be posted as they become available. Check here to determine if a recent update has been posted: Last updated 092308; Pages updated: Picture Library and Home

n August 2, 2008, Seattle pilots Mark Schoening and Doug DeVries depart for a 10,000 mile circumnavigation of Canada via the famed Northwest Passage . The team will be flying venerable de Havilland Beaver seaplanes. Midway through the passage, the flight will turn north in an attempt to reach the Magnetic North Pole. The High Arctic, the Northwest Passage , de Havilland Beavers, and polar bears, does it get any better than this?

As the last frontier, the Arctic is an area rich in history, wildlife, and natural splendor. Our journey will bring us in contact with walrus, caribou, musk oxen, and perhaps the odd polar bear, creatures which have evolved to eek out an existence in this often hostile environment. The human inhabitants of the Arctic, the Inuit, have for centuries survived north of the tree line, an area spanning from the NE tip of Russia across Northern Canada to parts of Greenland . For centuries these arctic dwellers have honed their survival skills in this harsh and unyielding corner of our planet.

Equipped with “straight floats”, the Beavers provide access to the thousands of remote Arctic lakes only reachable by floatplane or foot. As romantic as this may be, from a practical standpoint, all of the fuel and supplies must be procured at villages and ports with water access. Except for occasional supply stops in the more civilized areas, the team will be experiencing the natural Arctic first hand, as they land and camp at remote lakes and ocean inlets.

Midway thru the journey, our Beavers will bank to the left and begin their quest to be the first floatplanes ever to reach The Magnetic North Pole! This wandering point (where the magnetic field of the earth points directly down) is in constant motion, and was first found at Cape Adelaide in 1831. It was again located in a different site by explorer Roald Amundsen in 1903, and since that time has moved over 800 miles to the northwest. Beaver N67DN will be specially outfitted with extended range fuel tanks in order to make the 8 hour round trip from Eureka to the Magnetic Pole. The high Arctic supply depots of Resolute and Eureka do not stock aviation fuel, so the team shipped fuel in drums to these remote locations via Canadian Coast Guard Cutter in the summer of 2007.

An experienced film crew, including Oscar-nominated Director of Photography, Eric Thierman, will film the venture in high-definition. The team intends to make a documentary film about the adventure, capturing the experiences of Mark andDoug as they travel on this amazing 10,000 mile journey though this rugged and fascinating part of our planet.