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Don't you find it very ironic that this American bomber replica is being flown in Germany? I imagine some of the 90 yr. olds may have looked up and gone to cover.
The B-25 was used quite a bit in the Pacific theater. I don't off hand remember it being used that much in the Europe Theater. The use of the B-25 that received the most notoriety was the Doolittle raid off of the USS Hornet in 1942... forget the month. I do know that it was 1943 or 1944 before B-25s were brought into the conflict in Europe.
If you close your eyes you can imagine the application of this... Ralph is sitting on the back porch. He's patrolling his farm with his drone. Suddenly... his camera spots some punks eating his peaches half a mile away! He goes to the aviation shed and pulls out his B-25, loaded with 3lb dog-poop bombs! As he flies it over the culprits, the cross-hairs meet and the bomb bay doors open... ...... 30 Seconds Over Tokyo......JO'Co
My dad was a waist gunner and radioman on. Mitchell B-25 light bomber in the European theater in WWII. His squadron flew missions out of Libya, then Sicily and eventually Italy as they ran their final raids into Germany. He loved that plane.
:cry: I have a big yard but not enough for all the toys he wants I am still waiting for something... anything in my backyard.. patio pool then we can discuss his toys.... but this airplane is just trouble waiting to happen maybe a small drone instead
Well, a lot of young men did it. He did not talk much about it much but one time I was able get him to to describe it to me a little. He said the worst part was when the anti-aircraft flak bursts started on their final approach to the target. He said they never came back once without holes in their plane and they had one crewman blown right through the roof. I asked him how many German fighters he shot down and he laughed. He said he was shooting his .50 Cal through an opening roughly 3'x5" and they were flying at les than 175 mph while the Messerschitts were 400mph+ . It was the job of the turret gunners to shout out the clock positions of the fighters. He said he shot the sky full of holes but he's not sure he hit anything. He had his final five of 30 combat missions flown out of Abbiamo AB in northern Italy into Germany to blow up bridges that were used to supply the German army. He said their flight path went over one particular farm where the owner would run out and shoot at them with a rifle. The B-25 crew chief was really pissed off about it and ordered the bombardier to "save one" for the trip home. On the way back to the base they dropped it on his barn. If you have seen "Unbroken" you remember the scene where they were getting shot up over the target zone. I am pretty sure that is what my old man experienced. Thanks for your comments.
Stephen Ambrose has written a book about the airmen who flew missions out of Italy. It's called The Wild Blue. One of the characters in the book is George McGovern the former presidential candidate who was in one of the crews who flew those missions. Good read.
Great stuff about your Dad George. Thanks for sharing! I love the WWII RC models, especially the big ones. But once in a while a modern one comes along that is amazing. Check out this beast. I can't imagine it's easy to fly at the speeds it's moving! <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/s1su1K8yb8k?rel=0" frameborder="0"></iframe>
My dad was a waist gunner and radioman on. Mitchell B-25 light bomber in the European theater in WWII. His squadron flew missions out of Libya, then Sicily and eventually Italy as they ran their final raids into Germany. He loved that plane.
Agree that the SR71 is fantasticly cool, I cannot tell you how many models I have built of that jet growing up. My son and I were visiting the National Air and Space museum in Fairfax, Va this summer and I became the boy again as they had one on exhibit... Cool toy...