Shane Lundgren

During travels in Russia after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Lundgren conceived a trans-Siberian flight (barnstorming style) in Russian Antonov An-2 biplanes.^[1] In 1994, Lundgren led an aviation expedition across Siberia, which was sponsored by Wired magazine and several technology companies. It has been described as one of the first expeditions to be documented online. The flight began in Moscow and proceeded north of the Arctic Circle across Siberia to Magadan.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} In 1995, the Smithsonian Institution's Arctic Studies Center joined Lundgren in another flying expedition to chronicle indigenous people from Yakutsk to Alaska across the Bering Straits. The expedition coincided with the early launch of Discovery Online, which featured content from the journey.^[7] Lundgren went on to found WorldSight, an early online magazine.

Lundgren led polar expeditions in 1997 and 1998. In 1998, a National Geographic Television documentary featured one of Lundgren’s polar flights. On April 13, 1998, Lundgren piloted an expedition flight that landed at the North Pole, carrying the Explorers Club flag that Sir George Hubert Wilkins and Carl Ben Eielson carried across the top of the world in their 1929 flight.^{[citation needed]}

The aircraft used in Lundgren’s Arctic expeditions, an Antonov An-2 Colt biplane (registration N61SL) is currently displayed in the Aviation Pavilion at Seattle’s Museum of Flight.^{[citation needed]}