The Northern Light

Issue date: 7/29/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Gretchen Weiss Barely feet off the ground the guide motions for us to get up and move around. The passengers all look around and one person tries to ask if he is sure we can get up so soon, though with all the noise speaking becomes a futile endeavor. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Gretchen Weiss On take off the plane rumbles and vibrates with twin propellers. The sound pops and increases until it reaches a rhythmic hum and the plane lurches forward. The plane taxies briefly and once on the runway speed off. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Gretchen Weiss Passengers are crammed onto small bench style seats some face each other. Headphones connect the riders in the back to the pilots and crew in the front. They also dull the popping undulating noise generated from the propellers. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Gretchen Weiss To get into the "Pacific Prowler" passengers climbed a ladder through either of two doors in the belly, one in front and one in back. Once in the back of the plane the area is divided in two by the door, there are three seats on one side and for the brave who want to climb over the hole there are two seats in back followed by a passageway leading to a gunner's cage. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Gretchen Weiss "This plane was meant to fly with holes shot in it." Pilot Jim Terry said as he briefed the gathering riders as to safety on the plane. Jim Terry has been flying the "Pacific Prowler" since 200? When he and his crew took on the restoration of the plane. [Click to enlarge]

With the Alaska's 50th anniversary looming, a special guest from far away landed at UAA's aviation center.

On June 25 a restored 1944 B-25 bomber, nicknamed the "Pacific Prowler," made its first stop in Anchorage, all in an effort to remember World War II veterans.

The Pacific Prowler is one of a handful of B-25s still flying today. The plane was first used by the military during World War II and dropped bombs during the Doolittle raid on Japan. After its war days, the plane was also used as a prop plane in Hollywood films, such as "Flight of the Condor" and "Around the World in 80 Days." Suzanna: couldn't find any films called "Flight of the Condor"-there's "Flight of the Gossamer Condor" but not sure if that's it

But after the plane's heyday, it was placed in a junkyard, until pilot Jim Terry picked it up.

In 2001, Terry found and renovated the plane. It's now based out of Ft. Worth, Texas, serving to memorialize the veterans of World War II.

"Our mission is to serve as a living memorial to those we served in World War II," Terry said.

Terry and the Pacific Prowler travel around the U.S. giving rides while spreading their historical message.

Terry and his plane left Anchorage shortly after Elemendorf's celebration. He and his crew will continue flying around the country for the rest of the summer before returning to Texas for the winter.

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