Skyward Skin: A De Havilland Tattoo Survey
One of my favorite things about our trips to Alaska’s Bear Trail Lodge is the fact that you can hit new water every day and be assured that no one else will be there. Staying close on the Naknek is fun and it’s where we’ve caught our best salmon, but the flyouts are my jam.
And of course flyouts require….flying.
It’s a way of life for Alaskans, some of whom take planes to school, to basketball games and of course to fish every day. The iconic plane is the de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver. It’s not the only model they made, but it’s the classic. While the Beaver gets most of the love, the de Havilland DHC-3 Otter and de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter show up in ink too.
If you agree that riding these planes that have been out of production for decades is a big part of the Alaskan experience, you might want to celebrate them in ink. Here are a few De Havilland tattoos that stood out to us, from minimalist linework to full-on bush plane scenes:
If you’ve ever banked over a river in a Beaver chasing 30-inch rainbows, you get why these planes stick with people. If that’s you, let us see your Beaver ink or art — and if you’d like to explore a fishing trip to Alaska, shoot us a message.
