In the vast and sparsely populated terrain of Alaska there is a sound that can be heard almost anywhere: the distant drone of an aircraft.
Only 20% of Alaska is accessible by land.
Dozens of its isolated communities — predominantly those of native peoples — rely on air transport for essential services like mail, supplies and medical care.
Alaska has six times as many pilots
per capita
than anywhere else in the United States, with about 8,000 registered pilots.
I grew up in Anchorage, the largest city in the state, and all the pilots I knew were men.
When I was a child, flying was as normal to me as riding in a car or on a boat, but I never thought of being a pilot, partly because I had never seen a woman like me piloting a small plane.
Leighan Falley, the first female pilot I photographed, described flying as a way to spiritually connect with the mountains of the Alaskan countryside.
When I met her, she was working as a glacier pilot outside of Talkeetna, flying over those same mountains where she had once guided climbers.
Meeting Falley led me to find others.
Like Heidi Reuss, 87, who had been a commercial flight instructor for more than 60 years, or Jamie Klaes,
from a remote town in the Arctic, who trained young Alaskan natives to become pilots.
Dolena Fox, 26, had just become the first female Yupik pilot from her region.
Each one of these women made me feel as if flying was something I could learn too.
The men who became famous decades before had nothing to do with these female pilots I know and admire.
Flight instructor Heidi Reuss, 87, sits in the seat of her Taylorcraft, a plane she describes as "part of her own body."
Reuss has been flying for more than six decades.
"Even at 80 I still love him, I can't leave him," she explains. Acacia Johnson
A small plane-taxi crosses the kelp in a lake in southern Alaska.Acacia Johnson
Tosha Cypher, 38, prepares her 1956 Piper Pacer in the town of Hatcher Pass.
She was once a helicopter pilot, but now flies her plane as part of a growing community of women pilots in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley.
“Aviation is part of our community and our way of life,” says Acacia Johnson.
The Knik River, near Anchorage, the most populous city in the State of Alaska.Acacia Johnson
Mary Creighton, 35, and Tosha Cypher, 38, pose next to a 1956 Pacer on the frozen surface of Lake George, Alaska.
They are part of the growing community of women pilots in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley.
“When I think of aviation, I think of family values and teaching these skills to the next generation.
This is love for your tribe,” Creighton explains.
Acacia Johnson
A glacial river in Cook Inlet, Alaska.Acacia Johnson
Glacier pilot Leighan Falley carries a ladder through the mist to put cover on the wings of her Turbine Otter.
"I think the modern aviator today has very little to do with the pilots who flew and crashed a bunch of planes in the '60s, '70s and even '80s," she says.
"We are more aware of the risk, we have better equipment and better information. We can walk close to the limit without going over it."Acacia Johnson
Pilot Phyllis Tate, 82, in the cockpit of her Cessna 206 in Fairbanks, Alaska (USA).
Tate, who has spent much of her life in rural parts of the state, is now the leader of a pilot women's organization.
“I feel very satisfied to have achieved this.
I love the adventure, meeting other women and having camaraderie."
Acacia Johnson
Dolena Fox, 25, pictured with the Cessna 182 she uses to teach flight lessons in Palmer, Alaska.
Originally from Kipnuk, a small town, Fox is the only female pilot from the Yupik community in her region.
“I wanted to be a part of that important Alaskan lifestyle.” Acacia Johnson
A group of aircraft flies over the Knik River Valley near Palmer, Alaska.
Social flying is a way for young pilots to learn from their more experienced friends while racking up the hours they need to become certified.Acacia Johnson
A small plane in the middle of a storm on Lake Hood Seaplane in Anchorage, Alaska.Acacia Johnson
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