Alaska is a meca for seaplane pilots and home to one of the largest populations of both seaplane pilots and seaplanes in the world. At the heart of this meca is Lake Hood in Anchorage which has the distinction of being the largest and busiest seaplane base in the world with over 750 resident aircraft and 67,000 operations annually..
However, this seaplane base also becomes the worlds largest ski plane base, as most of the seaplanes based at the lake remove their floats and replace them with skis for the winter months.
The cruise ship and tourism industry along with the uniquely large roadless wilderness in Alaska has made seaplanes and bush flying skills essential for Alaskans to survive and maintain services such as getting children to school, law enforcement and the delivery of almost any common item that can not be harvested from the land, sea or rivers.