B-25 Mitchell Model World War Two Aircraft From Franklin Mint

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B-25 Mitchell Model World War Two Aircraft From Franklin Mint

North American B-25 Mitchell World War Two Scale Model Aircraft

Part Number: B11B317
Availability: Available Now
Actual size is approximately 13 1/2" (34.3 cm) in length. Wingspan approximately

North American B-25 Mitchell Scale Model Description

·	A meticulously detailed re-creation of one of America’s most famous WWII bombers.

·	Renowned for its role in the 345th Squadron’s daring raid on the Japanese base on New Britain — fighting off fifty enemy bombers even with one engine shot out!

·	Hand-assembled in fabulous 1:48 scale.

·	Propellers that really spin.

·	Hand-painted and flaunting an image of its namesake "Tondelayo."

·	Complete with landing gear.

·	Put the spotlight on this military legend!

The North American B-25 Mitchell (North American NA-62) was an American twin-engined medium bomber manufactured by North American Aviation. It was used with devastating effect against German and Japanese targets in every combat theater of World War II. The aircraft was named the 'Mitchell' in honor of General Billy Mitchell, an early airpower pioneer and advocate of an independent United States Air Force. It is the only American military aircraft named after a specific person. By the end of its production, more than 10,000 B-25's in several models had been built. These included a few limited variations, such as the U.S. Navy's PBJ-1 patrol bomber and the Army Air Forces' F-10 photo reconnaissance aircraft.

The B-25 was flown by a number of Allied forces in addition to the Army Air Forces and the U.S. Navy. These nations included Australia, the United Kingdom (which received more than 900), China, The Netherlands, and Soviet Union.

The B-25 first gained fame as the bomber used in the April 1942 Doolittle Raid, in which 16 B-25B's, 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 to themselves. However, 15 of the planes subsequently crash-landed in Eastern China en route to their recovery fields in that country. These losses were the result of fuel exhaustion, stormy nighttime conditions with zero visibility, and the lack of electronic homing aids at the recovery bases. Only one B-25B landed intact; it came down in Russia, where its five-man crew was interned and the aircraft confiscated. Fortunately, the majority of the 80 Doolittle Raid crewmen survived their historic mission and eventually made it back to American lines.

Development

The B-25 was a descendant of the earlier XB-21 (North American-39) project of the mid-1930s. Experience gained in developing that aircraft was eventually used by North American in designing the B-25 (called the NA-40 by the company). One NA-40 was built, with several modifications later being done to test a number of potential improvements. These improvements included Wright R-2600 radial engines, which would become standard on the later B-25.

In 1939, the modified and improved NA-40B was submitted to the United States Army Air Corps for evaluation. This plane was originally intended to be an attack bomber for export to the United Kingdom and France, both of which had a pressing requirement for such aircraft in the early stages of World War II. However, those countries changed their minds, opting instead for the also-new Douglas A-20 Havoc. Despite this loss of sales, the NA-40B re-entered the spotlight when the Army Air Corps evaluated it for use as a medium bomber. Unfortunately, the NA-40B was destroyed in a crash on 1939 April 11. Nonetheless, the type was ordered into production, along with the Army's other new medium bomber, the Martin B-26 Marauder.

Operational history

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 version 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 were identical, the only difference being their location of manufacture. The B-25C was built in Inglewood, California, while the B-25D was made in Kansas City, Kansas. A total of 3,915 B-25Cs and B-25Ds 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 missions against Japanese airfields in New Guinea and the Philippines. These heavily-armed Mitchells, field-modified by engineering genius Major Paul Irving "Pappy" Gunn, were also used on strafing and skip-bombing missions against Japanese shipping trying to re-supply their land-based armies. Under the brilliant leadership of Lt Gen George C. Kenney, B-25's of the 5th and 13th 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-25's were also used with devastating effect in the Central Pacific, Alaska, North Africa, Mediterranean, and China-Burma-India theaters.

Because of the urgent need for hard-hitting strafer aircraft, a version of the B-25 dubbed the B-25G was developed, in which the standard-length transparent nose and the bombardier were replaced by a shorter, solid nose containing two fixed .50-calibre machine guns and a 75 mm M4 cannon. The latter was the largest calibre weapon ever used in an American bomber. The cannon was manually loaded and serviced by the navigator, who was able to perform these operations without leaving his crew station just behind the pilots. This was possible due to the shorter nose of the G-model and the long length of the M4, which allowed the gun's breech to extend into the navigator's compartment. The B-25G’s successor, the B-25H, had even more firepower: six fixed forward-firing .50-calibre machine guns, two more in the top turret, one each in a pair of new waist positions, and a final two in a new tail gunner's position. Fourteen hundred B-25Gs and B-25Hs were built.

The final version of the Mitchell, the B-25J, looked much like the earlier B, C, and D models, having reverted to the longer nose section as used in those types. The less-than-successful 75 mm cannon was deleted on the J model. Instead, 800 of this version were built with a solid nose containing eight .50-caliber machine guns, while other J-models featured the earlier ‘greenhouse’ style nose containing the bombardier's position. Regardless of the nose style used, all J-models also included two .50 caliber guns in a "fuselage package" located directly under the pilot's station, and two more such guns in an identical package just under the co-pilot's compartment. The solid-nose B-25J variant carried an impressive total of 18 .50-caliber guns: eight in the nose, four in under-cockpit packages, two in an upper turret, two in the waist compartment, and a pair in the tail position. No other bomber of World War II carried as many guns. In all, 4,318 B-25Js were built.

The B-25 was a safe and forgiving aircraft to fly. With an engine out, 60° banking turns into the dead engine were possible, and control could be easily maintained down to 145 mph (230 km/h). The tricycle landing gear made for excellent visibility while taxiing. The Mitchell was also an amazingly sturdy aircraft that could withstand tremendous punishment. One well-known B-25C of 321st Bomb Group was nicknamed "Patches" because its crew chief painted all the plane's flak hole patches with high-visibility zinc chromate paint. By the end of the war, this aircraft had completed over 300 missions, was belly-landed half a dozen times, and sported over 400 patched holes. The airframe was so bent that straight-and-level flight required 8° of left aileron trim and 6° of right rudder, causing the aircraft to "crab" sideways across the sky. The only significant complaint about the B-25 was the extremely high noise level produced by its engines; as a result, many pilots eventually suffered from various degrees of hearing loss (Higham 1978).

An interesting characteristic of the B-25 was that its range could be extended by using one-quarter wing flap settings. Since the aircraft normally cruised in a slightly nose-high attitude, about 40 US gallons (150 l) of fuel was below the fuel pickup point and thus unavailable for use. The flaps-down setting gave the aircraft a more level flight attitude, which resulted in this fuel becoming available, thus slightly extending the plane's range (Higham 1975).

The B-25 is featured in the book Catch-22, and in the movies "Thirty Seconds over Tokyo" (one pilot's account of the Doolittle Raid), Pearl Harbour, and Catch-22 (film), which features a large number of B-25s in flying condition. A meticulously restored B-25, painted and marked as Jimmy Doolittle's aircraft, is on permanent display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio.

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