Allison Moore fought for her dream and ended up a captain at Lynden Air Cargo: this female pilot lands in populous and remote corners of the world, including Bush Alaska.

• Author: West, Gail

Captain Allison Moore shoulders her share of responsibility for deliveries at Lynden Air Cargo. One of Lynden's 25 captains, Moore may fly her L-382 Hercules aircraft (the commercial version of the military C-130) to any number of destinations-on a schedule or at the whim of charter demands.

"She could be flying in Greenland, the Azores or South America," said Jerry Vink, vice president of airline operations for Lynden. "Although based in Alaska, Allison flies anywhere in the world that work takes her."

Currently Lynden's sole woman captain, Moore said she's been in this position for about a year.

"I really love being in command of the plane and my crew," Moore said. "It's very challenging, and I like that."

According to Vink and Mike Redmon, Lynden's chief pilot and Moore's immediate supervisor, Lynden expects a lot of their crews and their captains.

"Allison delivers," Redmon said. "She's no different from any other captain. She steps up to the plate and gets the job done."

Vink and Redmon said Lynden's pilots have to be able to land on frozen lakes or unimproved airstrips. Much of their flying is done into remote Alaska communities, but there are other demands on their pilots.

"Our crew members have to be able to respond quickly," Redmon said. "A charter could come up from Mexico City to Guam, and she could be on that tomorrow. That's just the way it is. Or she could sit in a hotel room for 10 days and do nothing. It's a difficult job."

Moore hauls anything and everything that will fit into her Herc. She said she's hauled everything from a 26,000-pound Ditch Witch and other construction machinery to sled dogs to groceries and bypass mail.

A CHILDHOOD GLIMPSE

As she grew up in Minnesota, Moore's family took her to air shows and flight museums. She is the daughter of an Air Force pilot, and the granddaughter of pilots that flew in World Wars I and II. She said she always knew she would fly someday.

After an eight-year Air Force stint, during which she didn't fly, but "was around aviation," Moore headed to Arizona to visit an uncle who had just lost his wife. She said she was ready to sit in the sun for awhile. As she did, though, she kept seeing "all those small planes flying toward the Scottsdale airport," and decided it was time.

A year later, she had both her commercial pilot's license and flight instructor's certificate. For the next two years, she taught other students how to fly.

Don't Take 'No' as Answer

By that time, Moore said, it...