Alaska’s Legendary Bush Pilot: Terry Holliday

In this unforgettable episode of Coffee and a Hanger, we sit down with Terry Holliday—Alaska Aviation Hall of Famer, Wright Brothers Award recipient, Craig Taylor Award recipient, and living legend of the Alaskan skies. His story begins in 1957 when, at just 12 years old, he wandered into a canvas tent in Anchorage and met a man rebuilding an airplane engine. That chance encounter set him on a lifelong path of flight, adventure, and survival.Terry recounts growing up in Anchorage, learning to weld with a coat hanger, rebuilding aircraft engines alongside his father, and learning to fly the hard way—without GPS, relying only on instinct and the land. But it was the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake—one of the most powerful quakes in North American history—that became a defining moment in his life.

When the ground tore open and buildings collapsed, Terry didn’t run—he stepped into chaos to rescue the injured. Hear how that experience shaped his philosophy: when someone’s in trouble in the Alaskan wilderness, you don’t wait, you go. It showed him that his mechanical skills, his courage, and his instinct for survival could continue to save lives. Weather, darkness, remoteness—none of it mattered.

Terry shares harrowing stories, hard lessons, and the deep bond between man and machine, forged in some of the harshest and most beautiful landscapes on Earth.

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