Air Power
North American B-25 Mitchell 
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]
Specifications
Powerplant: Two Wright R-2600-13 Double Cyclone fourteen-cylinder air-cooled radials, each rated at 1700 hp each for takeoff, 1500 hp at 2400 rpm. Equipped with Holley 1685HA carburetors.
Performance: Maximum speed 284 mph at 15,000 feet. Cruising speed 233 mph at 15,000 feet. Initial climb rate 1100 feet per minute. An altitude of 15,000 feet could be reached in 16.5 minutes. Service ceiling 24,000 feet. Range 1500 miles with 3000 pounds of bombs.
Weights: 20,300 pounds empty, 34,000 pounds maximum loaded. The fuel capacity consisted of four tanks in the inner wing panels, with a total capacity of 670 US gallons. In addition, a 515-gallon tank could be installed in the bomb bay for ferrying purposes, bringing total fuel capacity to 1255 US gallons. Later versions had additional auxiliary fuel tanks in the outer wing panels. Later versions could also have 125-gallon tanks fitted in side waist positions, a 215-gallon self-sealing fuel tank installed in the bomb bay, and provisions could be made for a droppable 335-gallon metal bomb-bay fuel tank.
Dimensions: Wingspan 67 feet 67.7 inches, length 53 feet 0 inches, height 15 feet 9 inches, wing area 610 square feet.
Armament: Two 0.50-inch machine guns in dorsal turret. Starting with B-25D-5 the 0.30-inch nose gun was removed and replaced by a flexible 0.50-inch machine gun in the extreme nose and two fixed 0.50-inch machine mounted in the nose and firing through holes cut into the side of the Plexiglas glazing. Normal bomb load was 3000 pounds but could be increased on the B-25D-1-NA with external underwing racks to a maximum of 5200 pounds.
B-25's in formation from the 390th Squadron, 42nd Bomb Group "Crusaders"
13th Air Force in the South Pacific theater of World War II in late 1944
Off the Vogelkop (Bird's head) of Dutch New Guinea, near Cape Sorong.
Photo courtesy of Dick Hartt
