I'm not sure this story is true, but if it is, I'm going to go buy a hat just so I can take it off in this guy's honor. Is there anything duct tape can't do (besides repair ducts)?

So this pilot was flying out in the Alaskan backcountry (is there a frontcountry in Alaska?) for a fishing trip and mistakenly left some fresh bait in his plane. That was a big mistake, since there are probably more bears than people in those parts. One of the local bears ravaged his plane while looking for the bait, leaving it in a condition unfit for flight. That picture:

After the attack, our noble pilot called in a buddy to deliver some new tires, sheet plastic and a whopping three cases of duct tape. After using those materials, his newly patched-up plane looked like this:

Apparently the repairs were sturdy enough that the pilot was able to fly his duct-taped plane home safely (not sure how far—maybe he was from Dawson City or something). There are definitely reasons to be skeptical of the story, but I'm going to choose to ignore all of them, and instead salute both this man and duct tape. [CNET]