Sitting at the edge of Lake Hood awaiting the spring thaw which was just beginning when I arrived at the end of April. What a lovely setting for photos with a frozen Lake and Snow covered Mountains behind.

Built in 1959 and still going strong in Alaska, this light Aircraft was wearing the very large rough terrain tyres for landing on Gravel Strips.

Built in 1958 and still going strong at Anchorage Alaska.

Parked at the side of frozen over Lake Hood this old Cessna built in 1954 was still wearing it's Winter Ski's.

The neat and clean appearance of this Otter, and of their Beaver, was impressive.

Part of an interesting CAP fleet at Lake Hood.

Hadn't seen a Skyvan in a while. This one is active, as we saw it in operation.

Part of an interesting CAP fleet at Lake Hood.

This operator also had an Otter and Piper Navajo parked on the ramp.

The autumn sun adds contrast to this view of Rust's Otter splashing down in Lake Hood, trailing ropes and foam. This angle hides most of the 'aesthetic changes' that came with the turbo conversion.

Lake Hood, situated right next to the international airport of Anchorage, must be one of the world's busiest seaplane bases. I spent a very enjoyable afternoon just sitting here, feet dangling in the water and the camera at hand, with all sorts of seaplanes speeding along every few minutes. Pictured here is Otter N234KA, which was still a "real" Otter back then. It was converted to a Turbo Otter during the 1990s, and became C-GHAR in 2002.

In a left turn just after take-off from Lake Hood's watery runway, with the Bush Pilots Air Service's logo on the tail. This Beaver started life with the USAF as 56-0388 way back in 1957, but has been used for bush flying in Alaska since 1975.