75th Birthday of the B25 Mitchell Warbird
On August 19th, 1940, the North American B-25 "Mitchell" performed its first flight. It would become the most versatile , widely used, and overallbest medium-range bomber of World War II.
The B-25 took 8,500 design drawings and 195,000 man-hours to develop from its design to engineering phase.The effort paid off:around 10,000 of the planes would be produced and sent to allied powers all around the world.
Eventually the B-25 would become the most heavily armed plane in the world.Its eight forward-facing 50-caliber machine guns took part in legendary strafing runs which would pave the way for modern close air support.
Here are some of the highlights of the impressive B-25 "Mitchell"'s storied career.
The B-25 came into service as a lower altitude, shorter-range alternative to the B-17.
The B-25 (front) flies in formation with a B-17 (back) at an airshow.
The B-25's "Mitchell" nickname came from US General Billy Mitchell, who was an outspoken advocate of military airpower since as early as 1906, just three years after the Wright Brother's historic first flight.
When airplanes were little more than wooden death traps, Billy Mitchell already foresaw their capability to destroy enemy military infrastructure, and lessen the demand on ground troops.
The smaller B-25 was adopted by all branches of the US armed forces. Its short takeoff distance made it ideal for taking off from aircraft carriers.
Taken from the deck of the USS Hornet, a B-25 bomber makes its way to be part of the first U.S. air raid on Japan.
On April 18, 1942, the B-25 was the first United States aircraft to bomb the Japanese mainland as part of the Doolittle raids, which were led by Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle.
_with_USS_Gwin_(DD-433)_during_Doolittle_Raid_1942.jpg#/media/File:USS_Hornet_(CV-8)_with_USS_Gwin_(DD-433)_during_Doolittle_Raid_1942.jpg){kind=link}
Sixteen Mitchells took off from the USS Hornet and flew 800 miles to Japan. After bombing Japan, most of the sixteen had to make forced landings in China.
The Mitchell's "greenhouse" style cockpit provided excellent visibility for bombers and gunners alike.
Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley poses for a photo with the crew of B-25A "Miss Hap."
An Australian engineer, Maj. Paul I. "Pappy" Gunn, was the first to remove the bombardier-navigator from the greenhouse compartment of a B-25 and equip the plane with eight 50-caliber machine guns.
Some models of the B-25 had 14 forward-facing guns, making it a powerhouse when it came to strafing runs.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-b-25-mitchell-warbird-made-its-debut-75-years-ago-today-heres-its-legacy-2015-8#ixzz3jMsamd98
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A key piece of American military history - the B25
It's a great story to read about Billy Mitchell's frustrations in his attempts to get the government to adopt a viable air force policy, overriding the vested interests of the leaders of the other forces, but he was proven to be correct in the end.
Another shot of a B-25, this one originally a "H" model with a 75mm cannon in the nose, was converted to a "J" model with a machine gun nose sometime in early '45.
The pic below is a true B-25 H nose showing the 75mm gun....
Surprisingly, for a medium bomber it is a very small aircraft having a wingspan of only 65 or so feet. (the typical fighter plane having a wingspan of 40-45 or so feet)
I met Billy Mitchell, as a young woman in Owensboro. He was a lovely, older gentleman, who was polite and extremely humorous! What a lovely man!
I had just finished teaching Aviation, as a high school class, and we had studied him, and his wonderful innovations to airplanes, and had discussed his struggles for aircraft carriers in the government, so meeting him was just like meeting someone like Orville Wright, but nicer. I really liked him!
We built the B25 Mitchell model in that class, (everyone built a model airplane and was responsible for knowing all the parts of the plane, and how they worked). I think he had been visiting Admiral Kimmel's son, Thomas, who was from Henderson, the next town over-- anyway, Mitchell was at some party I was invited to attend at the airport. The ladies adored him! From what I remember, Admiral Kimmel had been instrumental in helping Billy Mitchell in his struggles with the top brass about aircraft carriers. (Admiral Kimmel was at Pearl Harbor... and finally exonerated of the Pearl Harbor attack in 2000.)
Back in the day, I studied up on airplanes, because of this class I was teaching, and knew all sorts of military airplanes and could actually discuss them intelligently. I was single, and very smitten with Billy Mitchell, who was a widower... Sigh!
Such a nice man!
Buzz
Absolutely correct
I have read about Mitchell in the past and his ideas and vision for defense policy and military tactics were ahead of his time.
Thanks for the feedback
N M
Thanks for sharing the pictures (great) and the feedback
I am not all that far from Portage an my need to plan weekend trip up that way.
Dowser
Wow what a great story thanks for sharing it with us.
I bet you were a heck of teacher !
Great article RIO.
Billy Mitchell was a visionary, Doolittle executed the plan. Two great Americans, and a wonderful plane.
A classic photo of ''Dirty Dora''
Kavika
Thanks for sharing a great photo and for the feedback
Glad you liked the article
Apparently being naughty on the graphics is something that was popular to do!
RIO, I loved teaching, but got so very tired of the discipline problems. Teachers can't just "teach" these days, they have to do paperwork, and somehow keep the kids from killing each other. It's a mess!
Wonderful picture, Kavika!
I'm glad they allowed it, back in the day... If it made our guys feel better, or in any way boosted their morale, it was a good thing!
Yes it did and let's face it, what is more beautiful than a woman's body.
Perrie
I think you are right
Dowser
And you are right as well, but in today's politically correct world you will never see anything like this
Dowser
I was the same way about human resources and actually retired earlier than planned because the annoyances were outnumbering the good times too often
Well you are an expert on "offensive and misogynistic" so you would know.
I put no one down, in case you have trouble with the words I used, I was acknowledging your expertise in the area of things offensive and misogynistic.
You need to learn how to take a compliment.