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1999-2003 B-25 News

September 2006

• TB-25N 44-28866 (N744CG) remains for sale on the Courtesy Aircraft Sales site for $375,000. Currently named Spirit of North Carolina, the airplane enjoyed a long-term restoration and only returned to the sky last year.

• TB-25N 44-30832 (N3155G) reportedly changed hands in August after a quick sale. It had been owned by Historic Aeroplane Works, publisher of Warbird Digest magazine. Tim Savage of Historic Aeroplane Works basically related that the offer for the Mitchell was too good to pass up, so a deal was made. As of September 2, though, the airplane remains registered to Historic Aeroplane. No firm information on who the new owner is.

• I received some nice photos of B-25J 45-8811 (HB-RDE) operated as Russel's Raiders out of Sion, Switzerland, from Stephane Brugnolo, one of which is shown below. He also reports that a deal of sorts has apparently been struck between Revell models and the Franklin Mint to depict the airplane in products that will be available before Christmas.

  

• An interesting discussion is underway on the Aero Vintage Forum site about the appearances of Paul Mantz's B-25H, 43-4643 (N1203) in front of the camera. There are dozens of movies and other projects where the Mitchell carried the cameras, but only a few in which it appeared in films. Craig came up with a great series of photos captured from the 1953 film Them! that starred James Whitmore, James Arness, and Edmund Gwenn. Here is one of those photos from the topic, still active:

  

  That B-25H also makes a quickie little appearance in Catch-22 and Chris Brame found the airplane in a scene from It's a Mad Mad World. Anyone know of any others?

July 2006

• Here is a photo sent in by Chuck Beck of his dad, John E. Beck, in the cockpit of his B-25, My Buck, along with his crew taken on Okinawa or Saipan probably in 1945. No serial number or unit information is available at this time and Chuck would like to try and find out more about the airplane. If anyone has any information, please pass it along.

  

• A quick glance at the Courtesy Aircraft website would suggest that there is now a pending sale on TB-25N 44-28866 (N744CG), known as Carolina Girl, which has been on sale for several months. The asking price was $325,000, not a bad deal considering the level of restoration. No information about a possible buyer.

• Coert Munk passes along a photo of the cockpit section of B-25D 42-87621, formerly operated as (RAF) FR199 with the Dutch Air Force, now displayed at the Aviodrom Museum at Lelystad Airport in the Netherlands. Coert was able to discern that the script Triple P under the cockpit window is in reference to three "P"s involved with the project: Peter van der Noort had the idea; Peter van Stigt did the art work and set up the scenery; and Peter Baeten built the missing parts of the nose section.

  

• B-25N 44-30925 was finally transported in disassembled conditon from Sandroft in the UK to the Royal Army Depot at Vissenaken (near St. Truiden) in Belguim, arriving on May 27, 2006. The B-25 was obtained for the Brussels Air Museum Foundation in 2005 by the A B-25 Back to Belgium project set up to commemorate the memory of Wing 139, a Belgian unit of the RAF that operated B-25s during World War II. This photo depicts part of the B-25 upon arrival at its storage site at Vissenaken.

  

  The airplane will eventually be restored to static condition and displayed at the museum facility in Brussels. More information and photos can be found here at the project's website.

• Edward Park passes along an update of the B-25J Guardian of Freedom, 44-29465 (N25GL), operated from Orange County Airport in Southern California. In June he noted the airplane had just returned from being detailed, including some paint clean up. He notes the airplane looks much better now with newly polished skin. When owner Gen. Bill Lyons saw it, he determined that it would be kept in a hangar now to keep its appearance up to its current level. Also present on the ramp were Lyon's B-17, A-26, and a C-47.

March 2006

• Ron Strong sends in a photo of Pacific Prowler, TB-25N 44-30823 (N1042B) undergoing an annual inspection at the Vintage Flying Museum at Meacham Field, Fort Worth, Texas in late February. This airplane is now owned by Jim Terry and has some scheduled tour dates with information located here.

  

• The Doolittle Raiders are going to have another reunion in April 2006, this time at the National Museum of the Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. Announced dates are April 17-21. More information can be found here.

• Received an update from Ted Hurn, Vice President of the Aviation Historical Society of the NT in Australia as to the B-25s being held by Darwin B-25s as noted below in the September 2005 update. His email included the following information:

  To update the Aviation Historical Society of the NT inc score on B-25s
  B-25 Hawgmouth display only awaiting rear fuselage rebuild 41-3222 Fat cat for 380th Bomb Group USAAF
  B-25 nose section N5-133 ex NEI Squadron RAAF
  B-25 Nose section N5-139 ex NEI Squadron RAAF
  plus section parts collected from crash and crash landing sites no centre sections. Most other parts template material only. Most parts spent at least 20 years at crash sites before recovery.

February 2006

• Missed below in the January news update was that TB-25K 44-30129 (N7947C), otherwise known as Wild Cargo, flew for the first time in over four decades when Carl Scholl and Tony Ritzman from Aero Trader ferried the airplane from Air Acres in Georgia over to Lawrenceville, Georgia, on November 19, 2005. Carl and Tony spent several days looking over the airplane and correcting a number (reportedly, eight pages worth!) of mechanical problems. Not to imply the restoration was somehow faulty...the airplane came together from a complete basket case and Carl and Tony do know their B-25s and how every little part should be. After numerous ground runs and preflight checks, it was expertly flown from the very short grass strip at Air Acres, with trees and power lines obstructing the departure path and completed the relatively uneventful ferry flight. Since then, it has been kept at the AIM facility at Gwinnett County Airport at Lawrenceville where has been undergoing continuing work and several test flights with Bob Hill and Robert Fowler at the controls. It was known to have flown on twice on January 16th and probably several time since. Eventually it will be moved on to Gerald Yagen's Fighter Factory facility in Virginia.Congratulations to the Vintage Aircraft, Fighter Factory, and Aero Trader guys for getting another one flying.

• News comes from 'over the pond' that the Bedsheet Bomber, B-25J 44-30861, has been disassembled and moved from North Weald to Wycombe Air Park, where it will be restored to static condtion and placed on display. This airplane has had a checkered past, beginning when it first came to the UK in 1964 as N9089Z as a camera plane for Jeff Hawke. It has been in derelict condition for the past decade and hopefully it will be put back together a bit.

• Ron Strong sent along a photo of B-25J 44-29835 displayed at Lackland AFB at San Antonio, Texas. The airplane appears to be in fair shape, excluding the lack of Plexiglas and all.

  

• From Belgium comes an update from Willy Henderickx about B-25J 44-30925 that has been obtained by the Belgium Air Museum Foundation. Most of this airplane remains in the UK, but parts have evidently made it to Belgium. Plans call for the majority of the airframe to be moved by June 2006, probably to Vissenaken, Belgium, where it will be restored to static display condition. Work is being conducted by the B-25 Back in Belgium team.

• Coert Munk forwarded some information from a website of cockpit collectors and restorers regarding a B-25, or parts thereof, recovered from Russia and now in the UK:

  In 2002 the remains of a long forgotten North American B-25 were recovered from Eastern Russia by brothers Daniel and Kevin Hunt. The forward cockpit section, rear main fuselage and both engines were airlifted by helicopter and later shipped to the UK. Due to the location of the B-25 it is believed that it was being operated by an American flying unit flying from Attu with the 11th AF. Research is currently underway using the engine numbers as a form of identification. No evidence of any human remains were found at the site and all information was passed on to the American POW/MIA Personnel Office. It is hoped the USAAF serial number with information on the crew, squadron, and its final mission can finally be tracked down and the story of the B-25 displayed along side the final museum exhibit.

  It is planned by the brothers to carry out a sympathetic restoration on the main cockpit section saving as much of the original as possible. A general 'tidy up' will be undertaken and any structural damage particularly the canopy area being repaired and restored to its former glory. Any corrosion which is mainly limited to the underbelly area due to years of laying in the grass/scrub etc. will be treated to prevent any further corrosion from occurring. Any work undertaken will hopefully retain its 'recovered' look with work being limited to basically making it a more attractive museum display. Once the first phase of the airframe repairs and anti corrosion work has been undertaken, it is hoped to then move on to restoring the interior by replacing some of the missing cockpit fittings including pilot and co pilots seats and even the main instrument panel. Any information on the whereabouts of parts to boost this project particularly 2 control wheels, pilot/copilot seats, instrument panel or drawings, nose section will be gratefully received.

• On the registry front, word comes that TB-25N 43-28204 (N9856C), flying as Pacific Princess has officially been purchased by Aero Trader. Carl Scholl and Tony Ritzman have long operated the airplane on behalf of its owner. The TB-25N was registered to Carl Scholl on November 17, 2005.

• More news on the Aero Trader front from Air Classics magazine, which reported in its March issue that Aero Trader obtained B-25J 44-30077 (N2849G) in the disbursement of Tom Reilly Vintage Aircraft at Kissimmee, Florida. Tom has moved his operation up to Douglas, Georgia, and most of the airplanes held by him did not go with him. The B-25 was trucked to the Ocotillo Wells storage facility operated by Aero Trader for future use.

January 2006

• Steve Huckvale noted the following correspondence on one of the Yahoo! newsgroups regarding the Air Kahuan TB-25N, 44-86844 (N3453G) last seen disassembled at the Roanoke, Texas, airport. This fills in a few details about the airplane as it is written by the managers of the Big Kahuna water park:

  This just in from the Big Kahunas! Yes, the B25 was retired. I was afraid it would sustain further damage from Hurricanes. It was damaged several times by Hurricanes Opal, Georges & Ivan, losing parts with each storm. The plane was sold to a training facility in Dallas. The firm trains airline mechanics and this was to be a class project for them. They are refurbishing the plane and it will eventually be placed in the Jimmy Dolittle Musuem in China. Thanks for your concern, she is in a much better place now! Best regards, Tom McEvoy VP/GM Big Kahuna’s Water & Adventure Park Destin, FL

  As noted in the November update below, the registered owner of the airplane is Training Services of Virginia Beach, Virginia. Here is the first mention, though,that the airplane may be destined for China.

• Here is a photo taken in early October 2005 of the Warbird Digest TB-25N 44-30832 (N3155G) at Kingman, Arizona.

  

  Tim Savage, editor of Warbird Digest, sent in a photo of the airplane a few weeks later after it had been stripped of its paint. It is currently undergoing repainting. Details of the new scheme have yet to be released but it should be a good one.

  

• Bill Fallon sends some information about the Lake Murray B-25C, 41-12634. The folks at the Southern Museum of Flight at Birmingham, Alabama, found a watch behind the instrument panel a couple of weeks ago. It belonged to the copilot. His name was Robert Davison (or maybe Davidson). On the back was an inscription "Ruth to Bob 3-5-'43." Does anyone knows his fate or whereabouts? The museum is interested in contacting anyone with information about him.

• Here are two photos of TB-25N 44-30925 (ex N9494Z) acquired earlier this year by the Brussels Air Museum Foundation. The first was taken in April 2005 and shows the airplane still in the UK in its disassembled state:

  

  And here it is in happier days, back in October 1976 at the Confederate Air Force's AirSho '76 at Harlingen, Texas.

  

  A webpage on this effort is locate here. The airplane will undergo a restoration in Belgium to commemorate the B-25s operated by Belgian squadrons during World War II.

• Finally, an interesting photo sent in by Greg Vallero of what appears to be a production line shot of Wright R-2600s being prepared for installations on new B-25s. Not sure of the original source of the photo but it's an interesting view:

  

B-25 News Archive

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
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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