There were seventeen flight crews assigned for the seventeen B-25s, each consisting of a pilot, co-pilot, and flight engineer. Most of the aircraft commanders were ex-military and/or air tanker and/or duster pilots who were comfortable with big radial engine airplanes, formation flying, low altitude work, and operating in a military environment. The filming schedule, in the winter, fit the schedule of the tanker pilots. The co-pilots were the lucky ones in the right place at the right time. The flight engineers...several were from the Tallmantz "family" and most were probably also from air tanker outfits. More info needed here, by the way.
As per Frank Pine's recollection, studio honchos at Paramount Studios told Tallman that the pilots were all to be under 25 years of age, have B-25 type ratings, and each have at least fifty hours of B-25 time. The age requirement was to allow the flight crews to resemble the actual wartime pilots, who were mostly about the age of 20 or 21. After Tallman stopped laughing at the executives, he told them that there were few, if any, pilots that met those requirements and that if they wanted the flying done right for the film, the studio would let Tallman select the pilots on his own terms. There were insurance issues also, so once they were established, Tallman found his flight crews and brought them on board for the film.
Jack Bivin sent this Daily Flight Schedule And/Or Flight Time Reference that showed the crew assignments for at least at one point in the film:
Based on this listing, here is a flight crew listing, with a few added as known:
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Aircraft Commanders
Jim Appleby
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Co-Pilots
Wayne Berg
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Flight Engineers
(not surprisingly, no one remembers the mechanics)
Brooks
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A few names compiled from other lists, particularly that of Stoney Stonich, reveal these missing names from the crew listing above: Frank Blaha, Les Hall, Marvin Jackson, and Charles Rector.
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