Google Earth Community: A Collection of B-25 Mitchell Bombers 2.7

A Collection of B25’s

Most are visible

Please let me know of any more are visible in GE

The B-25 Michell Bomber

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History
The B-25 was made immortal on April 18, 1942, when it became the first United States aircraft to bomb the Japanese mainland. Commanded by Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle, sixteen Mitchells took off from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet, flew 800 miles (1287 km) to Japan, and attacked their targets. Most made forced landings in China. They were the heaviest aircraft at the time to be flown from a ship at sea.

The B-25 was designed for the United States' Army Air Corps before the Second World War. The North American company had never designed a multi-engine bomber before. The original design had shoulder-mounted wings and a crew of three in a narrow fuselage. The USAAC then decided its new bomber would need a much larger payload -- double the original specifications. North American designers dropped the wing to the aircraft's mid-section, and widened the fuselage so the pilot and co-pilot could sit side-by-side. They also improved the cockpit. The USAAC ordered 140 aircraft of the new design right off the drawing board. There were at least six major variants of the Mitchell, from the initial B-25A and B-25B, with two power-operated two-gun turrets, to the autopilot-equipped B-25C, and the B-25G with 75mm cannon for use on anti-shipping missions. The British designated the B-25Bs as the Mitchell I, the B-25C and B-25Ds as the Mitchell II, and their B-25Js, with 12 heavy machineguns, as the Mitchell III. The US Navy and Marine Corps designated their hard-nosed B-25Js as the PBJ-1J. In the end, the B-25 became the most widely used American medium bomber of World War Two.

After the war, many B-25s were used as training aircraft. Between 1951 and 1954, 157 Mitchells were converted as flying classrooms for teaching the Hughes E-1 and E-5 fire control radar. They were also used as staff transport, utility, and navigator-trainer aircraft. The last B-25, a VIP transport, was retired from the USAF on May 21, 1960. Approximately 34 B-25 Mitchells remain flying today, most as warbirds, although at least one earns its keep in Hollywood as an aerial camera platform. [History by David MacGillivray]

Operational History
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The B-25 first gained fame as the bomber used in the April 1942 Doolittle Raid, in which 16 B-25Bs, led by the legendary Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle, took off from the carrier USS Hornet and successfully bombed Tokyo and four other Japanese cities without loss. However, 15 subsequently crash-landed en route to recovery fields in Eastern China. These losses were the result of fuel exhaustion, stormy nighttime conditions with zero visibility, and lack of electronic homing aids at the recovery bases. Only one landed intact; it came down in the Soviet Union, where its five-man crew was interned and the aircraft confiscated. Fortunately, 71 of 80 aircrew survived their historic mission and eventually made it back to American lines.

Following a number of additional modifications, including the addition of Plexiglas windows for the navigator and radio operator, heavier nose armament, and de-icing and anti-icing equipment, the B-25C was released to the Army. This was the second mass-produced version of the Mitchell, the first being the lightly-armed B-25B used by the Doolittle Raiders. The B-25C and B-25D differed only in location of manufacture: -Cs at Inglewood, California, -Ds at Kansas City, Kansas. A total of 3,915 B-25Cs and -Ds were built by North American during World War II.

Although the B-25 was originally designed to bomb from medium altitudes in level flight, it was used frequently in the Southwest Pacific theater (SWPA) on treetop-level strafing and parafrag (parachute-retarded fragmentation bombs) missions against Japanese airfields in New Guinea and the Philippines. These heavily-armed Mitchells, field-modified by Major Paul I. "Pappy" Gunn, were also used on strafing and skip-bombing missions against Japanese shipping trying to re-supply their land-based armies. Under the leadership of Lt. Gen. George C. Kenney, B-25s of the Fifth and Thirteenth Air Forces devastated Japanese targets in the SWPA from 1942 to 1945, and played a significant role in pushing the Japanese back to their home islands. B-25s were also used with devastating effect in the Central Pacific, Alaska, North Africa, Mediterranean and China-Burma-India (CBI) theaters.

B-25 Bomber Info.

Specifications (B-25J):
Engines: Two 1,700-hp Wright R-2600-92 Cyclone radial piston engines
Weight: Empty 19,480 lbs., Max Takeoff 35,000 lbs.
Wing Span: 67ft. 7in.
Length: 52ft. 11in.
Height: 16ft. 4in.
Performance:
Maximum Speed at 13,000 ft: 272mph
Ceiling: 24,200 ft.
Range: 1,350 miles
Armament:
12 12.7-mm (0.5-inch) machine guns
4,000 pounds of bombs

Number Built: 9,889

Number Still Airworthy: approx 34

This collection contains 58 B25 2 less

Enjoy

MM

credit to Carmedic for the logo and additional info from jtouran

Edited by Masonicmoron (09/07/08 09:09 AM)