Flying Heritage Museum: A World War II B-25 bomber (photo diary)

by Ojibwa for Kossack Air Force

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Friday, May. 09, 2025 Friday, May. 09, 2025 at 7:15:21am PDT

The B-25, designed in just 40 days, first flew in 1940 and saw action on every World War II fighting front. In addition to American forces, the B-25 was also flown by the Dutch, British, Chinese, Russians, and Australians.

Built by North American Aviation, the B-25 first flew in 1940, and the U.S. Army Air Corps had accepted the first five in 1941. It was named in honor of Brigadier General William “Billy” Mitchell (1879-1936), a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Mitchell is generally regarded as the father of the U.S. Air Force.

During World War II, the B-25 Mitchell was the U.S. Army Air Force’s most broadly employed medium bomber. B-25s saw duty in every combat area being flown by the Dutch, British, Chinese, Russians, and Australians in addition to U.S. forces. By the end of the war, a total of 9,816 B-25s had been built.

Most of the B-25s used by the Americans saw action in the Pacific in the war against Japan. In the Pacific, the J models featured a solid nose that housed eight fixed .50-cal. guns for low-level attack. In this configuration, the J model could devastate vehicles and shipping with up to 14 forward firing heavy machine guns.

Powered by two Wright R-2600s of 1,700 hp each, this aircraft had a top speed of 328 mph, a cruising speed of 233 mph, a range of 2,500 miles with auxiliary tanks, and a ceiling of 21,200 feet. It had a crew of 5.

The Flying Heritage and Combat Armor Museum in Everett, Washington has a North American B-25J that was built in late 1944 and was modified to carry a Hughes E1 fire control radar for training. It has been restored to wartime configuration.