AERO VINTAGE BOOKS

Current B-25 News
2017 B-25 News
2016 B-25 News
2015 B-25 News
2014 B-25 News
2013 B-25 News
2012 B-25 News
2011 B-25 News
2010 B-25 News
2009 B-25 News
2008 B-25 News
2007 B-25 News
2006 B-25 News
2005 B-25 News
2004 B-25 News
1999-2003 B-25 News

We're including these pages as an update point for B-25 news. We'll post information garnered from any variety of sources, and notate that source at the end of the item. If anyone has anything they'd like to add, please let us know.

October 2011

• FAA Continues to Clean Registration House: The FAA continues its process of weeding out long obsolete registrations of scrapped, crashed, or otherwise inactive civil aircraft from the aircraft registry. For the B-25, the following aircraft have been de-registered:

  TB-25N 44-30243 (N17666) with last activity reported on 14 Jan 1977 (sale reported) and now cancelled as of March 3, 2011. This B-25 is on loan from the USMC to the Pendleton Air Museum in Oregon.

  B-25J 44-29035 (N61821) registration cancelled on June 6, 2011. Aircraft is displayed at the National Museum of Naval Aviation at Pensecola, Florida. This airplane was one of the first B-25 air tankers in late 1950s after modification by Paul Mantz and sent to Venezuela to fight fires.

  TB-25N 44-28738 (N3441G) registration cancelled on June 13, 2011. This B-25 was an early 1960s sprayer conversion that was never operational and the fuselage is on display at the Strategic Air and Space Museum at Ashland, NE.

  TB-25N 44-31489A (N3513G) revoked September 9, 1971, and cancelled on July 5, 2011 (noted as out of service by 1970).

  TB-25N 44-86786A (N3514G) revoked December 7, 1970, and cancelled on July 5, 2011 (noted as out of service by 1970).

  Thanks to Coert Munk for keeping me up to date.

• B-25 For Sale: No surprise here, but B-25J 44-86698 (N325N) is still for sale, currently listed on the Courtesy Aircraft Sales website for a, cough, $549,000.

  

  The listing notes that the airplane has not flown since November 2007 and remains at Santa Rosa, California. (Thanks to Coert Munk for passing along the listing).

• Latin B-25s: Michael Magnusson passed along a few things this past month. First up, he has some photos of some B-25s not seen all that often.

  Here is a presently unidentified B-25J that carried the Bolivian marks of FAB 542 that is on display at the Cochabamba Air Base in Bolivia. This is a 1985 photo of the airplane; any updates on its status?

  

  And here is a more recent photo of another B-25, this being 43-27847, on display at the Museuo Aeronautico at Montevideo, Uruguay. This airplane reportedly went through Brazil before ending up in Uruguayan service.

  

• More On Argentinian B-25 Restoration: Of a more current nature, Michael Magnusson also provided some recent photos of the B-25J now undergoing restoration in Buenos Aires, Argentina, that being 44-31173.

  

  As noted in our July update (below), the future of this airplane looks much brighter, as Gustavo Passano pours resources into a restoration. Michael notes that the restoration team just contracted with some sheet metal specialists from Venezuela to work on the plane, and that they have moved all the pieces into a brand new hangar at General Rodriguez which is outside Buenos Aires. Also, they are realistic about money and expectations, but at least they want to restore it to a decent display condition.

  Also, his photos put to rest a long time question about the actual identity of the photo. Some sources have identified this airplane as 44-31172. This photo conclusively proves that this airplane once carred USAF markings of BD-173, the buzz markings the would correspond to 44-31173.

  

• Alberta Aviation Museum Rolls Out The B-25: The Alberta Aviation Museum rolled out its restored ex RCAF B-25J, 44-30791 (RCAF 5273) on September 3, 2011, after a seven year restoration effort. It is noted that the airplane was donated by the family of Terry Harold after the aircraft had been derelict at their family farm for many decades, having been part of their Water Bomber operations.

  

July 2011

Long time coming, this update, sorry to say. And, much of it isn't really new but more a compendium of what has been filling my files for the past few months, much sent in by readers just like you. Well, there aren't all that many readers, but some people sent some stuff in.

• French B-25 Down : Bad news from France: on May 31, B-25J 45-8811 (F-AZZU) suffered and in flight engine fire in the right engine and made an off field gear up landing near Melun-Villaroche, south-east of Paris. The airplane was substantially damaged but, fortunately, the two man crew was able to walk away from the accident. Fire crews were quickly on the scene and kept the airplane from burning further, something that is not always the case or possible, as events two weeks later with a B-17 would demonstrate. Fate of the B-25 airframe is yet to be announced.

  

  This airplane may be better known as Russell's Raiders and is a popular airshow attender in France. It has a long history as a civil airplane since it was first USAF surplus in 1959, starting as a U.S. sprayer and moving through a bunch of different owners and roles. Here is a link to a site with some photos of the crash site located right here.

• Martha Jean Sold: TB-25N 44-86777 (N345BG) was sold in April 2011 to the Liberty Aviation Museum of Shaker Heights, Ohio. The airplane was delivered from its old base at Tulsa, Oklahoma, to Port Clinton, Ohio, on Sunday, June 26. The B-25 may be better remembered as Martha Jean and was operated for years by David Wheaton. It has been loosely on sale for several years. The new Liberty Aviation Museum is planning on building a display facility at Port Clinton's Erie-Ottawa Regional Airport.

• Flying Heritage B-25 Completed: After a decades long restoration effort, B-25J 44-30524 (N41123) was completed by Aero Trader for the Flying Heritage Collection based at Paine Field at Everett, Washington. This was an ex RCAF B-25 that enjoyed a long civil utilization including a stint with Jr. Burchinal at Paris, Texas, and time operating as an air tanker for several Canadian companies. It was an early part of the somewhat stillborne Naval Air Station Museum at Arlington, Washington, it was merged into the FHC collection and showed up at Chino in 1999 for the Aero Trader treatment. It enjoyed a leisure restoration based on some of the, shall we say, eccentricies of the FHC management...enough said.

  Anyways, the restoration was finally completed to a top notch level by the Carl and Tony team. Reports call it the most incredible of incredible efforts and authentic down to every last nut and bolt from nose to tail. Reportedly, the B-25 turned out to be a blending of two airframes somewhere in the distant past.

  Here's a recent FHC view of the airplane in the Aero Trader hangar in its new paint scheme, reportedly of the 341st Bomb Group.

  

  The B-25 was delivered to the Flying Heritage Collection facility at Everett, Washington, in mid-June.

• "Red" B-25 Under Rebuild: And, speaking of Aero Trader, the recently restored and San Antonio based TB-25L 44-30456 (N747AF) had a takeoff accident back in late March 2011 at a private airfield in Texas. The airplane, owned by Rod Lewis, suffered significant damage after an inadvertent landing gear retraction. The airplane was trucked back to Chino where it is, again, undergoing a rebuild.

  There have been a number of speculative comments on the warbird sites about this incident; I thought it sufficient to include this direct excerpt from the NTSB preliminary report, located right here:

  On March 26, 2011, about 1300 central daylight time, a North American B-25, multi-engine airplane, N747AF, was substantially damaged when the landing gear collapsed during take-off at El Jardin Ranch Airport (XA66), Encinal, Texas. The airplane was owned and operated by Lewis Fighter Fleet LLC, San Antonio, Texas. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a flight plan had not been filed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The pilot, co-pilot, flight mechanic, and six passengers were uninjured. The airplane was originating from XA66 for a local flight.

  The pilot and co-pilot provided written statements that the co-pilot inadvertently raised the landing gear handle at about 60 knots airspeed during the take-off roll. The landing gear then began to retract and the airplane settled onto the runway surface and slid to a stop. The pilot initiated an emergency evacuation with the forward cabin occupants exiting through the overhead emergency exit, and the remaining occupants exiting through side emergency exit.

  'Nuff said. The B-25 at Oshkosh in 2010, just for reference:

  

  Aero Trader is also working, by the way, on Rod Lewis' Douglas A-20, at Chino.

• Argentinian B-25 Recovered for Restoration: An account in Classic Wings tells that B-25J 44-31173 (LV-GXH), long reported as derelict at the Santiago del Estero airfield, has been recovered by its new owner, Gustavo Passano, and transported to its new home near Buenos Aires. Reportedly, this airplane will undergo a restoration to airworthy status. More details can be found here at the project's website. Some tidbits on the site thought it would be helpful to be able to read Spanish.

• New Home for Betty's Dream: B-25J 45-8835 (N5672V), better known as Betty's Dream while flying with C&P Aviation out of Anoka, Minnesota, has been sold. In a sale recorded on March 11, 2011, to a Delaware corporation, Bettys Dream LLC, the airplane actually is now with the Texas Flyng Legends Museum based at Ellington Field at Houston, Texas. The museum boasts a growing collection...check the website right here. Thanks to Pat Carry for the update.

  Photo from the website of the B-25 with a couple other collection airplanes:

  

• Cemetary B-25: Jim Mandelblatt was kind enought to send in some photos he took in 1988 of the ex Catch-22 TB-25N, 44-28925 as displayed at a veteran’s cemetary at McMurray, Pennsylvania. This airplane was obtained for display at the cemetary in 1974 from the surplus Catch-22 birds then stored at the Tallmantz facility at Orange County Airport. Frank Pine delivered the airplane that was, even then, in very marginal condition.

  

  

  The airplane was obtained by Harry Doan in 1988 as a parts source to assist in the rebuild of another B-25 damaged in a off field landing. It is a bit significant in that this old B-25 has an actual combat record, a bit rare in the surplus B-25 stocks made available by the USAF in the late 1950s. This airplane was later obtained by the Cavanuagh Museum, trucked to Chino, and expertly rebuilt by Aero Trader. It is now on display at the museum facility in Dallas as How 'Boot That, its actual wartime name. Thanks to Jim for sending the photos in. (And thanks to Carl Scholl for noting an error; corrected on 12/30/11)

  You want more on this airplane, do you? Well, check out the dedicated page on this Catch-22 B-25 at this Aero Vintage page.

April 2011

Thin pickings in the B-25 world these days. Not sure why. Thought about making something up but that didn't work either. Standing by, but the files are pretty empty....

• Steve Detch, 1951-2011:: First off, some sad news. Though not a real well known name in the B-25 world, Steve Detch's name was nonetheless attached to a number of B-25s. He operated Vintage Aircraft at Woodstock, Georgia, but passed away on February 18, 2011, after a fight with cancer. For B-25 guys, he is best known for his obtaining TB-25N 44-30129 (N7947C) from the Walt Soplata collection, an airplane that now flies as Wild Cargo with Fighter Factory out of Virginia Beach, Virginia. Steve had his name on at least two other B-25s also through the years.

• FAA Cleaning Registry House: The FAA has an aggressive initiative to clean up the U.S. civil registry. They tried being nice and asking airplane owners to keep their airplane data up to date but some folks generally ignored them. Okay, then, charge them money and then they'll pay attention.

  Well, sorta, but there were several oldie moldie B-25 civil registrations cancelled in the past few months. Coert Munk sent these in, as reported in Air Britain. First up, in December:

  N3446G (44-31466) crashed on July 26, 1960

  N345G (44-86811) disappeared from view in 1960

  Then, in January:

  N3695G (44-38926) revoked.

  N3677G (44-86782) revoked.

• B-25C Sold: Gary Byrd passed along the news that B-25C 41-13285 was sold in December. This was the airplane that was recovered from Lake Greenwood in South Carolina back in 1992. The airplane, in poor condition upon recovery, has suffered since because no one is quite sure what to do with it. It was originally donated to the city of Columbia and later moved to another group, Celebrate Freedom. It was then sold, for $15,000, to a new group called the South Carolina Historic Aviation Foundation. There are now plans to restore the B-25, a daunting task, even to airworthy condition, a nearly impossible task. Check out the foundation website right here. They are dedicated to preserve South Carolina's valuable contributions to aviation, and the B-25C is a good starting point.

Current B-25 News
2017 B-25 News
2016 B-25 News
2015 B-25 News
2014 B-25 News
2013 B-25 News
2012 B-25 News
2011 B-25 News
2010 B-25 News
2009 B-25 News
2008 B-25 News
2007 B-25 News
2006 B-25 News
2005 B-25 News
2004 B-25 News
1999-2003 B-25 News