FRANK CHURCH-RIVER OF NO RETURN WILDERNESS, Idaho -- In the small airport lounge, his former wife and business partner rattles off the weather report and frowns as a surge of wind blows open the door and invites in the morning chill.

Ray Arnold slumps in a chair holding the side of his mouth. The 72-year-old pilot had a root canal the day before. Staring out the window, he weighs years of flying experience against an uneasy sky.

Finally, he lifts himself from the chair.

At his signal, Arnold Aviation employees wheel cardboard boxes into the hangar on dollies and stack them next to the plane, the wish lists of those who live and work along the only backcountry air mail route left in the lower 48 states.

Voor het complete artikel zie: http://www.salon.com/wires/ap/us/2009/06/28/D993PHI01_us_the_mail_pilot/

En voor een filmpje: http://video.yahoo.com/watch/5401065/14222544