70th Doolittle Raiders Reunion - 20 B-25's Gather At The Air Force Museum
Tuesday, April 17, 2012 at 03:48PM 
20 B-25's on the runway behind the Air Force Museum on Tuesday April 17, 2012
(14 pix)
The weather couldn't have been any better for the big gathering of B-25's at the Air Force Museum today for the 70th anniversary of the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo. The B-25's arrived early in the morning, shortly after sunrise and in beautiful still air. These aircraft had been gathering for the last several days at Grimes Field about 30 miles northeast of Dayton in Urbana Ohio, but today was the day for them to come to the museum site and be put on display to help the public remember a courageous mission carried out by 80 men in 16 B-25's on April 18, 1942... a mission that was extremely risky and had more to do with building moral for the war effort back home (and showing the Japanese that America was both willing and ready to fight) than in actually inflicting a lot of collateral damage.
I had hoped to be able to get deeply connected to the activities at Grimes Field and at the Air Force Museum for this large-scale (and possibly last) Doolittle Reunion, but as it turned out I could only make it to the events of today. I don't know if there's ever been more than 20 B-25's gathered at once in the past, but as you can imagine, the perfect weather, the Air Force Museum location, and the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Doolittle Raid have made this a very historic event.
So here are a total of 14 images from today to give you an idea of what this event looked like. And if you aren't really familiar with the details of the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo, I recommend you check out this account from the U.S. Navy website, it's a great concise history of the event. The wiki page on the raid is also a good resource.
This week's gatherings help us all to celebrate and pay tribute to the brave men who participated in the raid, including the five that are still alive today... I believe four of them are attending this reunion. Please check out this Air Force Museum page for more info on the events taking place yet this week.
The lead B-25, Larry Kelley's Panchito arriving shortly after sunrise on the runway behind the Air Force Museum. The air was still with a few high clouds and lots of sunshine. It couldn't have been any nicer for the mass arrival of 20 B-25's for this historic gathering.
The b-25 Barbie III just after touchdown with the awesome Air Force Museum in the background. After all 20 of the aircraft landed they were all parked wingtip to wingtip on the same runway.
The crewmembers from all of the aircraft gathered right after their arrival for some official photographs for the event. The bright sun and long shadows show it was early in the morning, and Champaign Gal looked great in that sunshine.
At the far east end of the lineup was the B-25 Devil Dog... the very Navy-like blue paint helps to indicate that this B-25 actually represents a Marine PBJ (Patrol Bomber, and the J indicates the manufacturer, North American Aviation) with the glass nose removed and lots of guns up front.
The Barbie III B-25 was also unique in that it mounts a 75mm ground-attack cannon in the nose in addition to the four .50 cal machine guns. You can see one of the 75mm 'bullets' on the ground standing next to the bomb. By comparison, the cannon in the nose of the A-10 is only 30mm, tho the A-10 can deliver a very rapid fire delivery of those smaller 'bullets'. Either way, you don't wanna be in the path of either cannon!
The B-25 known as Axis Nightmare was part of the gathering today. You may have noticed that all of these pix (except for the first one) have very few if any people around the airplanes. These were taken shortly after the aircraft landed and well before the public was let out to view the B-25's. This is also when the crewmembers were gathered for their group photos away from the airplanes.
Notice the word 'longest' drawn on the back of the prop blade pointing down. I saw all the airplanes had 'long', 'longest' or and 'L' on the back of the blade pointed down... I thought it must have been some unique and interesting old military procedure, but I overheard it was just a joke... all the B-25 operators were told to mark a blade as the longest and be sure it was the one pointed down : )
Here's a good view of the more traditional B-25 nose with lots of glass... this one is the CAF Yellow Rose based in Texas. The Air Force Museum can be seen in the background of this picture as well as many of the others. It definitely added to the significance of the gathering to be within site of this amazing aviation museum.
Big mouth and bat wing paint on the B-25 Betty's Dream from the Texas Flying Legends Museum. This probably wins my award for the most dramatic nose art of the gathering!
Miss Mitchell with some of her crew getting back from the official reunion photo shoot to clean the airplane up and get her ready for the public visitors that would soon be checking out this amazing collection of B-25's.
The B-25 Old Glory with some post arrival cockpit talk going on. By this point the aircraft crews were well into prepping their aircraft for the public viewing and the morning sun was really warming things up nicely.
As the general public of all ages began filtering in, it was great to see many older veterans getting the opportunity see this amazing collection of B-25's. Here a cockpit crewmember from Tondelayo (in full WWII attire) speaks from the cockpit to a veteran.
Panchito with the morning sun peaking out past the wing. This is another view of the public just beginning to trickle in early in the morning. Again, the weather for this event could not have been any better!
The full line-up of the 20 B-25's looking from the west end into the sun toward the east. Panchito at the west end and Devil Dog way down at the east end. I took the picture at the top of the post about an hour after I had taken this picture. The one at the top shows a good flow of the general public moving in on the airplanes. When I left the line-up to go over the museum a short time later, the crowd had grown well beyond what's seen in that first image.
I was glad to see that a large number of people were coming out to experience this amazing and historic gathering of B-25's in recognition of the Doolittle Raiders and their brave effort 70 years ago.
Reader Comments (9)
I never knew there were so many airworthy B25s in the world what a great day that must have been
What an awesome site that must have been. Great weather and great planes. Doolittle did a lot to change the moral and momentum of the war.
I was in my backyard a few miles from the museum when they took off after the event, and it was truly a sight to behold watching them all in the sky at once. I called a few of my buddies who are photographers as fast as I could but none of us was able to grab a decent camera in time to capture the moment. Thanks for the photos on here and the write-up about the event.
--Bob
Bob- I wish I could have seen the departure of all 20 airplanes but I had to leave Tuesday afternoon. I bet that was an amazing sight... as if going off to battle.
Martt, I was wondering if you were going to cover the Doolittle Reunion. Good on you for doing so. I have been so busy listening to Warbird Radio at Warbirdradio.com that I haven't made time for my Airpigz fix. I actually donated 100.00 dollars for fuel for these guys and listening to the fundraiser drive for the last two weeks has been a blast. If you haven't done so already, check out Matt Jolley at Warbirdradio.com. It is my new mental home for my warbird addiction. Btw, I just happen to be reading Gen. Doolittle's book Ï Could Never be So Lucky Again". That man (and 79 other men) are American heros that few in today's America can even imagine...
-Bob, sometimes you have to just forget about the cameras and just take in the moment. Wish I could have seen it.
A link from the WIX:
http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=45282&p=454553&hilit=doolittle#p454553
Well I guess bringing those aircraft in the museum would bring not just good memories but preserving history as well.
I was luck enough to be able to fly on the Yellow Rose in New Orleans when it came here for the air show. What a experience I will never forget, not only the flight but to feel what those men felt to be in one of those planes.