By Stephanie Villella

VIDEO: WWll Bomber lands in Medicine Hat

Jul 17, 2017 | 2:53 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — A piece of history is in Medicine Hat.
 
A World War ll aircraft has landed in the city for the Family Fun and Flight event.
 
The B-25 Mitchell “Maid in the Shade” is one of the most iconic airplanes from the war.
 
This bomber was made famous by General Jimmy Doolittle who flew the B-25 on a very famous retaliation raid on Tokyo.
 
“It was our first strike back on Japan after Pearl Harbor,” said Travis Major, Operations Officer with the Arizona Commemorative Air Force Museum (AZCAF) and Co-Pilot of the B-25 Mitchell.
 
The aircraft’s primary role during the Second World War was a medium bomber.  It was used for low level ground attacks and carried roughly eight bombs.
 
“It’s not really a fast aircraft,” Dave Rozdeba, organizer for Family Fun and Flight said.  “It was made to carry bombs.”
 
There are only 34 B-25 Mitchells left in the world.  In the 1980s, the bomber was donated AZCAF to be restored.

 
“It was completely dismantled and rebuilt.” Major said.  After 28 years of restoring the bomber, it was finally able to fly again in 2008.
 
This specific bomber is the only one that has combat history out of the 34 remaining, Major explained.  It flew out of North Africa, Yugoslavia and Corsica.  Towards the end of the war, it flew 15 combat missions.
 
The B-25 Mitchell “Maid in the Shade” will be parked at the Medicine Hat airport all week for the public to view.  People can also go on a 22 minute ride for a fee.
 
All proceeds made from this week long event go towards helping maintain the bomber.
 
“[AZCAF} go around to events like ours and do fundraising to generate funds to make new parts, buy old parts that type of things,” Rozdeba said.
 
Major said it is a privilege to fly on this plane.
 
“It’s hard not to have kind of a surreal experience connection with the pilots that actually crewed the airplane back in the war and think about what it was like back in the day,” he said.
 
To purchase tickets visit the booth at the airport or go to http://bit.ly/MedicineHatAB