Introducing the “Spirit of Alaska Statehood”

APRIL 9, 2009 — SITKA, ALASKA

After a statewide contest, a very tough decision for a panel of judges, and one huge paint job, the Spirit of Alaska Statehood plane was unveiled during a ceremony in Sitka, AK on April 9, 2009. The town was chosen because it’s the home of the Paint the Plane contest winner, 16-year-old Hannah Hamberg.

Hannah’s design was rendered to fit the 737-400 by artist Mark Boyle of Teague, an industrial design firm in Seattle. The plane was painted in Everett, WA, before making the journey to Sitka for the big unveiling.

Check out the gallery for more photos of the plane that uniquely captures the one-of-a-kind spirit and positivity of Alaska!

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FUN FACTS

• It took 165 gallons of paint stripper to remove the old paint. You could fill over 3 bathtubs with that—but please don’t bathe in it.
• 336 rolls of tape were used to tape off the design. That’s about 60,480 feet—which is almost as high as 3 Denalis stacked on top of each other!
• It took approximately 160 gallons of paint and 21 different colors to paint the Spirit of Alaska Statehood.
• Q: How many people does it take to paint an entire 737-400?
  A: 48. (It only takes one person to screw in a light bulb though.)

• You might be surprised to find out what the hardest part of the whole job was. It’s wasn’t trying to stay inside the lines or trying not to spill the paint. Nope, the hardest part of the whole project was laying out the graphics onto the plane itself. (Especially the husky—that pup was tough!)