r/AviationHistory 5d ago

B-25 Mitchell

2.2k Upvotes

46 comments sorted by

26

u/AGentlemanLooksAt50 5d ago

Nice low pass and climb out. Will never tire of hearing a B-25 fly by, always love the sound of those radials.

10

u/james51453 5d ago

Many B-25 pilots and co-pilots eventually lost their hearing due to the placement of the exhaust stacks. https://worldwarwings.com/loudest-bomber/

20

u/Anxious_Big_8933 5d ago

What a beauty. I swear almost every twin engine design from WW II is so damn pretty.

12

u/Critical_Seat_1907 5d ago

There was a timeless art in the designs of that era. Like tall ships from the age of sail. Every generation will see those ships and these planes and fall in love with them all over again.

7

u/EquivalentDelta 4d ago

The technology was just advanced enough that a good-looking plane could be high performance, but  not so advanced that the technology dictated “ugly” aesthetic necessities.

2

u/5h4tt3rpr00f 5d ago

100%. In an era of many truly iconic machines, the twin-engine fighters / bombers were the best.

9

u/TankSaladin 5d ago

Surely you fans remember the 1970 movie “Catch-22,” which included 16 or 18 airworthy B-25s. There are some incredible scenes in that film, which was not a “war movie” per se, of the planes taking off, landing, and flying in formation. I can’t imagine where the studio found air crews to fly them all.

2

u/Educational_Cow8956 2d ago

Also one of the best books you’ll ever read.

1

u/Thincer 2d ago

Back in 1970 WW2 vets were only around 50y old. My dad (army vet) turned 50 that year.

7

u/atomicsnarl 5d ago

One of my dad's favorite aircraft. USAAF/USAF 1943 - 1955

7

u/Antique-Dragonfly615 5d ago

With the glass nose, no less

3

u/SouthTexasBoy64 5d ago

Wow, ain't she a beauty

3

u/Terrible_Log3966 5d ago

Our local former NAS had a raised embankment. I vividly remember looking down on a B-25 once. Those were good days

2

u/PaleontologistClear4 5d ago

One of the first models I ever built!

2

u/Sea_Damage9357 5d ago

Weren’t these absolutely beastly difficult to pilot? I’ve read that pilot skills for these planes were at a premium.

5

u/mexchiwa 5d ago

Not really 25s, you’re probably thinking of B-26 Marauders

2

u/No-Rush396 5d ago

B-26' Marauders were real 'hot' buggers, high wing-loading and very tricky to land on one engine.

1

u/Affectionate_Cronut 3d ago

No, they were a bitch to taxi on the ground, though. The brake on the nose wheel is super sensitive, so you’ll see low time pilots doing the nose bob dance as they creep along the taxiway.

2

u/ThunderboltDM 5d ago

VERY nice!!

2

u/colinshark 5d ago

What a cutie

2

u/FordCVP71 5d ago

Beeeeeeautiful!😌

2

u/JDPierson 5d ago

My grandfather was a tail gunner in B-25s

2

u/copperstarbill 5d ago

My grandfather had 3. One (44-30692) ended up in Mexico City on Display sometime in the ‘80’s.

2

u/Makahoku 5d ago

Well, dorsal turret is moved forward so it’s either a H or J. But she doesn’t have the .50 cal blister packs on the sides of the fuselage. An H model? Still love them.

2

u/CoatofArms-2401 5d ago

Early models like this one
were the best.

2

u/No-Rush396 5d ago

That sure is a lovely plane. Greeat to see it where it belongs - in the air! Has a very distinct sound to it as well.

2

u/Awkward-Soup8203 5d ago

Only US aircraft named after an individual. George Patton got a tank.

2

u/TheNecromancer Hawk aviator 5d ago

Gorgeous thing - they make such a muscle car-y noise!

2

u/Mental-Crew-691 5d ago

Loved my ride in Maid in the Shade a few years ago. Absolutely amazing

2

u/Kram_Seli 5d ago

Nice flying

2

u/One_Relative_5744 5d ago

Video credit : Noah Frye

2

u/scrorpio106 5d ago

Was it in Blacksburg va

2

u/Sams-Ace 4d ago

I want one 😅

2

u/Pezzo90 4d ago

During WW2 in the Pacific, that was one of the last sounds a lot of Imperial Japanese soldiers and sailors heard.

2

u/Justin_Rustin 4d ago

👏👏👏🙂

1

u/Guilty-River9086 3d ago

My grandad, grand mother, my dad and siblings were airlifted from Port Moresby in one after the war.

1

u/PoultryTM 2d ago

Pure Beauty

1

u/BasicHuman-Mk3 1d ago

Mitchell 241, check wheels down...

1

u/WarmAdhesiveness8962 1d ago

I got to go for a ride on one and gained even more respect for the guys that flew them in combat.

1

u/puffballz 1d ago

Recently started appreciating these more deeply as I realize that old-timers are right on many things. Old cars, old planes. Of an era that quality and simplicity were respected and valued

-1

u/sauramen 5d ago

Nasty!!!!

2

u/Aromatic-Bell-7085 5d ago

What a nice plane!

1

u/Even_Kiwi_1166 4d ago

This one 👍🏻