Summary: | Alaskan Air Pilots Do Family Shopping. Alaskan Air Pilots Do Family Shopping Special to The Christian Science Monitor Ketchikan, Alaska ALASKAN plane pilots must be versatile men. Being able to fly is only one of a mail pilot's duties. Residents of outlying camps expect him to perform numerous shopping duties. An Alaskan pilot qualifies when he is able to fill an order satisfactorily that reads, "Bring my wife a pair of shoes, she's kinda big on the foot." Air companies at Anchorage provide a shopping service for their clients. Orders for radios, neckties, linoleum, and almanacs come to their offices and are bought and delivered. Pilots are asked to buy women's hats, "just something to wear around the camp." A woman's height and her weight are sometimes the only guides in shopping for a dress. Other women tear pictures from magazines to give the pilot some idea as to what he's'looking for.
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