The Polar Pumpkin has made to the north pole. Alaskan bush pilot Art Mortvedt achieved his goal of flying his 1980 Cessna A185F N90SN to the geographic north pole on April 6, 2012. Mortvedt is a veteran of many expeditions to Antarctica, and 6 seasons of scientific work on the northern polar ice pack.  He landed this plane at the south pole in 1999.

Mortvedlt  made it as far north as the Eureka weather station on Ellesmere Island, Nunavut in 2011.  But bad weather and the closing of the Russian Barneo ice station made it a bad idea to try the Eureka to 90 North trip that year. He has a detailed trip log posted on his website, including photos taken along the way.

He spent more time preparing for the flight and speaking about the trip in various places in the United States. Here's Art at Oshkosh explaining the story of the Polar Pumpkin.

His website features a flight log of this year's trip which took him from Alaska through the Northwest Territories, Yukon, and Nunavut in Canada, and on to Barneo and the pole.