Noel Merrill Wien: Born to Fly

Born into a family of aviators, Merrill Wien was destined to become a pilot. His father, Noel Wien, was one of the first pilots to fly in Alaska and his life was full of firsts, including making the first round-trip flight between Asia and North America in 1929. His mother played a big role in the founding and development of Wien Alaska Airlines, the second-oldest scheduled airline in the United States and territories. One of the most versatile and experienced pilots of his time, Merrill has flown just about every aircraft imaginable from DC-3s to Lockheed 1011s to historic military planes like the cargo C-46 and B-29 bomber to the Hiller UH-12E chopper. Although fundamentally modest by nature, family and friends encouraged Merrill to share his remarkable stories given his accomplishments and experiences with so many famous people and events. His tone is engagingly informal as he recounts crossing paths with such luminaries as Joe Crosson, Howard Hughes, Lowell Thomas Sr. and Lowell Thomas Jr., Sam White, Don Sheldon, Brad Washburn, Wally Schirra, and Bill Anders. He re-creates for readers his firsthand experiences flying top-secret missions for the Air Force, viewing the devastation of the Good Friday Earthquake in Anchorage, and the challenges of starting his own helicopter company, to name just a few. His fascinating narrative is complemented by photographs from his personal archives. Merrill Wien's life of aviation began shortly after his birth in 1930 when the infant Wien flew with his parents in a laundry basket aboard his father s new Stinson. Son of pioneer bush pilot Noel Wien, Merrill soloed at sixteen years old, and got his commercial aviation license at nineteen, and his instrument rating at twenty years old. He flew DC-3s for the family airline Wien Alaska Airlines until 1951 when he flew DC-4s for Pan American Airlines to Hawaii or Alaska and back. He joined the US Air Force in 1952, and he flew a C-119 Troop Carrier. Merrill flew top secret missions in Asia recovering parachutes with cameras in mid-air that had drifted over Russia tethered to balloons. After the Air Force, Wien returned to the family airline, and flew everything from bush planes to the four-prop engine Constellation, and Boeing 737 jets. With his brother, Richard, and two friends, they started Merric Inc. which was an early Alaskan helicopter company flying the new Hiller UH-12E choppers. Later, Merrill flew the Lockheed L-1101 jumbo jet worldwide for a charter airline. In retirement, he became a Confederate Air Force pilot, flying historic military planes including the cargo C-46, and the B-24, B-25 and B-29 bombers. Merrill is one of the most accomplished and experienced pilots of his time. He received the Wright Brothers Master Pilot award for fifty years of accident-free flying, and in 2014 he was inducted into the Alaska Aviation Legends for logging more than 33,000 hours in some 150 aircraft including helicopters. He is recognized for mentoring hundreds of young men and women and helping them pursue their own aviation dreams.