[Atchafalaya]

I was amazed at how fast a B25 accelerates on takeoff...a zoomer for it’s size.

[M1Tanker]

In early WWII and the decade or so prior more than a few air-power only proponents pointed out the fact that multi-engine bombers easily out-flew early “Pursuit” fighters and were, thus, immune from interception. They also pointed out that most machine guns used for AAA were pathetic and could not reach the bombers.

Then improved engines, better cannons, and proximity shells blew their theories literally out of the sky. Though, in their defense, foretelling the future is usually impossible.

Military Innovation in the Interwar Period is a dry, but good read on this topic.

The B25 is a fast ship with great acceleration. This is why COL Doolittle chose it for the raid on Tokyo from an aircraft carrier. Some of these lighter bombers, like the B25 and Mosquito, were so fast that they could go in and out of an area before the enemy could respond.