During the summer of 1972, Mike Magnell flew a Helio Courier as a bush pilot for Teller Air Service in Nome, Alas.

After retiring as an airline captain in March 1997, Magnell spotted the Courier for sale in Laredo, Texas and promptly bought it for himself. He now plans to take the airplane back up to Alaska this summer to visit his wife's family.

An exceptional STOL aircraft, the Helio Courier was initially designed and built by the Helio Aircraft Corporation in 1953. Full-span leading edge slats, upper surface spoilers (called "interceptors" by Helio), Frise ailerons and 74% span slotted Fowler trailing-edge flaps confer excellent slow speed and short takeoff/landing capabilities. The basic design can take off in under 300 feet (as short as 150 feet in some instances, according to Magnell ) and land in less than 150 feet.

Initial production models seated four, but later variants could accommodate five or six people. According to Magnell, the airplane was so versatile that it soon attracted the attention of the military and 90 percent of the Helio Couriers build went to the armed forces.

The Central Intelligence Agency reportedly made extensive clandestine use of the aircraft in remote places like the jungles of Southeast Asia. (According to one story, the test required by an "unnamed government agency" was for the plane to take off, circle and then land -- on a tennis court, albeit without the net.)

Magnell's Courier, a 1966 model 250 (N6307V, serial #2527) was built in Pittsburg, Kans. It is powered by a direct drive 250 hp Lycoming 0-540. According to Magnell, this is the only model of the Helio Courier that doesn't have a geared engine.

The geared models have the best takeoff performance, he said, but need more maintenance. This particular Courier has logged a total of 4,250 hours. so far.

Magnell put about 500 of those hours on the airframe when he flew it for Teller in 1972 and another 140 hours since he purchased it last year. The airplane is currently based at the Chino Airport in southern California.

During its lifetime, this Courier has operated on skis, floats and wheels.

The basic Courier has a wingspan of 39 feet, is 31 feet long and stands eight feet, 10 inches high. Empty weight for most models was a bit over 2,000 pounds and gross did vary from 3,400 pounds to 3,900 pounds.

Magnell says that he likes the Cessna 185 and the Helio Courier best for bush flying, but that the Courier is the better of the two because of its cabin volume. The Cessna 185 can carry a 1,400 lb. load, but its cabin is actually too small to accommodate bulky cargo up to that weight.

The Courier doesn't have that problem.

With a fuel capacity of 60 gallons, the Helio burns about 15 gallons per hour. Magnell's Courier has an actual cruising speed of 135 mph and stalls at 35.

However, Magnell doesn't fly the Courier under 40 mph very often and prefers a minimum speed of at least 50 mph at gross weight. In fact, Magnell claims that the Courier won't really stall, but it can wind up on the back side of the power curve and simply settle into the ground.

The slats generally come out gradually at about 50 mph, but they can slam out suddenly at times in turbulence The slats double the lift, but quadruple the drag.

So, according to Magnell, the airplane actually flies something like a Boeing 727 airliner; it needs a power approach or it can build up sink rate and get away from the pilot.

The Courier's spoilers deploy in conjunction with the aileron travel at low speed and the horizontal tail has a flying stabilator.

"Everything's big for slow flight, but it's a bitch in a crosswind," Magnell said. He tries to avoid crosswind landings in excess of 10 knots, though the airplane can reportedly handle 12-knot crosswinds from the left and and 17 knots from the right.

According to Magnell, most Couriers have experienced some damage at one time or another from botched crosswind landings.

Yet, Magnell says that the Helio Courier is the safest and most crash survivable aircraft ever built, primarily because it does fly so slow. The airframe is designed to be able to sustain a 15G impact and the passenger compartment is rollcaged, with the seats bolted directly to the floor.

According to Magnell, a 35 mph crash into a mountain would only impart a 15G load on the airframe. So far, he only knows of one fatality from a Helio Courier crash.

While flying with Teller Air Service, Magnell flew everything from a Piper Cub to the Boeing 727 before finally landing an airline job. The Helio Courier is the seventh airplane that he has owned.

"We will take it to Alaska this summer just for fun," Magnell said. He and wife Iris will visit her family which owns a "non-playing" gold mining camp. Iris is one-quarter Eskimo and often models in front of the Helio Courier at airshows in a colorful full parka and mukluk outfit.