B-25 Mitchell Bomber

[Bill Stoneberg]

Long Post and nothing to do with cars but thought I would share anyway.<P>I like planes and have been around them all my life in one way or another and<BR>today I got to have one of the "Once in a Lifetime Experiences". In Sugarland (outside of Houston) a recently restored Warbird was being shown. This was "Old Glory", a B-25 Mitchell Bomber used during World War II. The B-25 was the plane that Doolittle flew off the Hornet to Bomb Tokyo. <P>More than 10,000 B-25 Mitchell bombers were built during World War II. Extremely versatile, they saw service in virtually every theatre of the war. "Old Glory," one of two B-25's at the 2002 Salute to Veterans Airshow, was completed in August of 1944 in Fairfax, Kansas. Soon after, it was in combat in the skies over Italy. <BR>The military sold her for surplus in 1962, for $2,018.50. The new owner soon found out the cost of operating a B-25 and sold it to an Alaskan firefighting company, where it fought forest fires for twenty years. Through the 80's, she passed through several hands until a California man bought and restored her. <P>In the mid-1990's she took her "maiden" flight, but a fuel problem forced a wheels-up crash landing. The damage was severe: the nose was broken off, and the propellers and engines were all ruined. A Tulsa, OK man bought what was left, then restored her completely.<BR> <BR>Today, she flies as part of the Tulsa Air and Space Center. Few B-25's that saw combat are flying today, and "Old Glory" is one of them. <P>The one they have spent 40,000 hours restoring is the same plane that was flown in the movei "Pearl Harbor". It is the only P-25 licensed by the FAA to give rides.40,000 Hours to restore, and I thought the Woodie was taking a long time. <P>Anyway we were down looking at the plane waiting for the next group to take off, when the Lady in Charge came out and said that they had a no show for the 4:00 pm flight. They wanted a volunteer to fill the flight. I had already decided that the fare was too much for a 30 minute flight but under her breath so not that everyone could hear her she said that if I wanted to go it would only be $200 instead of the normal fare. At that point I looked at Dee and she said to go if I wanted to. So inside I went and gave them my Visa. <P>There were 6 paying passengers aboard the plane that day, 2 teenagers that sat up behind the pilots, and four of us who sat back behind the bomb bay. We were right back by the Waist guns. <P>This plane looks like the day it left the factory. If it was a Buick, it would be a "Senior". The crew who restored it did a kick ass job of restoring it. <P>Once I got in I was amazed how skinny the plane was, my truck is wider then the fuselage of the plane. They gave us head phones and hooked up us to the radio circuit. I sat facing backwards looking out of passenger side window. The only thing blocking my view was the machine gun that was welded to the frame. I guess they didn't want any shooting. It was real though, just non functioning. <P>After we were seated and belted in the engines started. The B-25 is a twin engine plane with a tri-cycle gear as opposed to a tail dragger. It was loud in there as we started to taxi but nothing like it was once we turned into the wind and started the takeoff. Soon we were in the air. <P>Once we were at about 2500 ft, the pilot let us explore the plane. For us in the back that meant we could get up, look out the side windows, and best of all, climb back to where the tailgunner would have sat. From that vantage point all you saw was the sky and ground, being completely surrounded by Plexiglas. I spent probably 15 minutes of the flight there looking all around and imagining what it had to be like back when these planes were flying during the war. The crew member that was with us also popped a side panel out of the fuselage and we were able to see without anything in the way. I think we flew from all the way by Hockley to way south of Sugarland on the flight. The wind was out of the North at about 20 -30 mph so going South was easy. I saw a grass fire from the air that we had passed on the ground earlier. After that it was easy to get my bearings but we were too far West to be able to pick out my House when we went by. <P>After too short a time we had to land. It is amazing how quickly 30 minutes can fly by. After the engines stopped, we all sat there, nobody wanted to leave. Eventually though we had to climb back down the ladder we climbed in on. I shot a roll of film today but didn't save enough to get a picture of me by the plane. Oh Well, I had a great time and like I said, it was and experience of a lifetime.<p>[ 03-10-2002: Message edited by: Bill Stoneberg ]

[1937hd45]

GREAT story Bill! There was one on Rt 22 in New York behind an Army Surplus store. The wings were cut off with chainsaws to get it there. Some collector bought it 10-15 years ago. Hope is is airworthy again. I hope to catch a flight in the B-17 that the Collins Collection has on tour. I got a tour of it years ago and they sure are small inside. Dad was an armorer on B-17's in England during WWII. When they came back after a mission the 50 Cal. shells got thrown out before landing. I guess to ease exit of wounded crew members. There is a farmer next to the old base that plows them up each spring. This fall my daughter will get to pick up some shells her grandfather may have loaded 1943-45.<p>[ 03-10-2002: Message edited by: 1937hd45 ]

[Guest]

What a treat. I never had the opportunity to fly in an old warbird. But I've visited a few and had the privilage to board them. You're right about the tight spaces. Even though I haven't boarded a B-25, I've climbed aboard a B-24 Liberator and a B-17 Flying Fortress. Despite the fact that these planes are larger than the Mitchell, it was still difficult to maneuver inside them. I guess that's why only young people flew them, not old fogies like me. Although I didn't fly in them, it was a thrill never-the-less to be in them.<BR>Thanks for your great story.<BR>Roger

[rocketraider]

Bill, several years ago the now politically corrected Confederate Air Force came thru Danville on an East Coast tour with a 25 and a 17. Magnificent machines. The local VFW post is named for Captain Archer T. Gammon and his grandkids were special guests of the CAF for that display.

[Guest Hal Davis (MODEL A HAL)]

Bill,<P>I'm green, but not because Saint Patty's coming up. The only warbird I've flown in was a PT-17 Stearman. I did get about 15 min of stick time though. I was a student pilot at the time. The pilot was not an instructor, so I could not log the time in my log book, but I have the experience to remember.<P>I was flying the pattern with my instructor one day, and a guy comes over the radio with a call sign "North American 1-2-3-A" or something like that. The first thing that popped into my mind was a B-25. Why, I don't know. I could just as easily been a P-51. I asked my instructor if he could see him. My instructor was about 24 with no real interest in these old planes, definitely not familiar with them. He told me he could see the plane. I ask him what it was. He said "I don't know. Some twin." I told him the next landing was going to be a full stop. We put the Cessna back in the hanger, and went to look at the B-25. He had an acetylene fired mock machine gun in the nose. I'll bet that would get some attention from unsuspecting spectators.<P>He didn't invite us to climb in, but let us look around and ask questions. It was quite a treat.