Air Force Museum B-25B?

[Garth]

I was there about a month/month and a half ago. One thing I noticed was that rather than replace large segments of skin over the area where the waist gunner window/blisters were removed the "patching" in this area was ... I guess "tailored" would be the right word. You can clearly see the panel lines where the new skin was integrated with the old as well as the crescent-moon arc of rivet lines where the top and bottom blister fairings were attached.

And by 'clearly' I mean to the eye of a scale-modeler like myself who has built about a half-dozen B-25s of various marks over the years. I'd guess that very few others (well, outside of WIX ... and ARC, and Hyperscale, and Zone-Five, and ...) would - assuming they even got close enough to the aircraft - notice, let alone understand what they were looking at it.

I don't mind the canvas covers over the engines, btw. It was a pleasant surprise when I first went to NMUSAF several years ago, especially since - having seen pics of that aircraft before they put the covers on - I figured out immediately why they'd been put on. When I take family/friends there I like telling that part. Just like how the scale model of the carrier Enterprise at NASM used to have a scale replica of the builder's white Porsche 911 tucked into the side of the hangar bay (btw, does anyone know why that car is now gone? Happened sometime between December and June)

[JohnB]

Must have been one of the last (if not THE last) D models in the inventory.
In one of the D-M photos you can see other B-25s in the background....all Js recently retired as multi-engine trainers I'd guess.

Really..$96 K to modify the aircraft. Seems high...and I wonder where the USAFM got the money, I'd bet they didn't have much of a budget then.

Last edited by JohnB on Mon Jul 09, 2012 1:52 pm, edited 2 times in total.

[rwdfresno]

Here are a few more items from the family of Vigil Thompson who worked for North American and was key part of the restoration.








Virgil Thompson in the co-pilot seat doing run up testing.


Some notes from Virgil's scrapbook denoting the flight which looks like it might indicate that Doolittle flew it to "Wright Pat."

Ryan

[John Dupre]

Thanks to everyone for the comments and photos. I wonder if the Air Force Museum has long range plans to correct the most obvious discrepancies on the Doolittle B-25? Even if they lost the kit supplied by North American they ought to be able to replicate it over time and then have a more accurate display. They have done as much for other aircraft "restored" to inaccurate colors or configuration over the years.

[JDK]

...After living like a gypsy (not there is anything wrong with interesting culture of Gypsies..) for 20 years and a divorce , ...

You forgot to also say "not there is anything wrong with interesting culture of divorcees.."

Seriously though, great thread. Fascinating stuff.

Regards,

[gary1954]

...After living like a gypsy (not there is anything wrong with interesting culture of Gypsies..) for 20 years and a divorce , ...

You forgot to also say "not there is anything wrong with interesting culture of divorcees.."

....them vixen's can be....how do you Mericans say it? Vicious?

thanks

[mustangtmg]

I've got a B-25 magazine in my collection somewhere that (I believe) was a 50th Anniversary tribute to the B-25.

The "centerfold" photo is the "recreated" B-25B. The caption says something about it being an exact replica of the B-25s flown by the Doolittle Raiders. Problem is, I saw the exhaust "warts" on the engines and the front end of the cowlings appeared to be a little "thick."

You'd think that if they'd spent this much money modifying a B-25D, so as to depict a famous B-25B, that they'd have spent some of it on the exhaust system and cowlings.

I might just dig that magazine out the stacks and take a look, just to get the specifics on the magazine!

[Ken]

In a previous thread I distinctly remember a memo which described the exhaust mods and parts which were to be transported aboard the airplane and installed prior to display. For whatever reason, they weren't installed. We're talking about 1959, right?

I think the airplane is amazing considering the attitudes on restoration & preservation then vs now. It'd be neat if they updated the look, however, considering its current display (tied down on the simulated carrier decking), the engine covers are an accurate portrayal.

[APG85]

Any pictures of it on display? Isn't there a B-Model at Aero Trader or someplace?

[kennsmithf2g]

Photos from Dec 26, 2011

[APG85]

Thanks for posting the pictures. It's been several years since I have been to the museum. Nice display...

[gary1954]

The components listed and necessary to make the conversion complete, were put aboard the airplane for the trip to Wright-Patterson. When the aircraft was delivered to the museum, the staff (whomever was responsible for the maintenance of the static displays) was "supposed" to install the items necessary to make the D model look like a B Model. Apparently since 1958 the ball was dropped and I imagine those parts are either lost or on the back of a shelf somewhere at Wright-Patterson, unless there is a "Hay ya'll!....Look what I found!!"... somewhere in the back of the plane

[Dan Jones]

Is there an "historical" reason why the prop tips are oversprayed with a flatter black?

[k5083]

I think it is a great idea to throw those covers over anything that doesn't look right but that they don't want to bother restoring properly. They should throw a big tarp right over the whole "BT-14"!

August

[Garth]

Is there an "historical" reason why the prop tips are oversprayed with a flatter black?

I'd never noticed that before, but it definitely shows up in the pictures I've taken of that aircraft.

I'd guess that it was a quick/dirty attempt to make the props look like those on the actual Raiders, which lacked the yellow tips, and the shading/matte-ness of the two sets of black paint didn't quite match..