Champaign Aviation Museum Website

A Beautiful Morning in a Beautiful Airplane

As you know, our B-25, Champaign Gal, is now fully operational. Led by Randy Kemp, the B-25 was signed off for flight in late summer-- and fly it has! It has added more than 35 hours to its total time and has been a frequent sight in the skies across Champaign County and western Ohio. The flights have been normal, as normal as flying a sixty year old airplane can be, and have been used as training flights for David and Eric Shiffer, as they progress toward their type rating in the airplane.

A typical such day of flight was Wednesday October 5. The morning was perfect as the airplane was pulled out of the museum hangar and towed to Grimes Airfield’s fuel pumps. The tanks were topped off and then our B-25 was pushed away from the pumps. The crew consisted of Eric Shiffer, Bill Clarke (who was the instructor pilot), and Eric Kendig, acting as observer. Champaign Aviation Museum volunteers Carl Billhardt rode in front, while Dale Davis, Bill Heater, Carole and Robert Buchwalter rode in the waist gun bay.

A thorough briefing was made, then the engines were pulled through. Even such a seemingly simple task must be done carefully. Eric Kendig instructed us to be careful and to be sure we did not try to push through a hydraulic condition on the engine. Eric and Bill gave us a safety briefing (don’t touch anything red!) and then did the walk around. There is a forward and aft crew ladder and to maintain CG limits, the forward crew boarded first, then the four of us climbed in the waist gun compartment.

The B-25 is a medium bomber and is an aggressive design and it is lean (translation: “tight”) both fore and aft. From the waist gun compartment, it is possible to look over the bomb bay and into the cockpit…and on this sunny, warm October day, while it was a little stuffy in the rear, it was probably much warmer forward in the “greenhouse”.

Engine start came at 1000 hours. And when you come to our museum to fly in our B-25, bring hearing protection! This airplane is loud. Imagine a drum line consisting of 2,000 drummers. Then double it! The starter whines, and then seemingly one by one, the cylinders on the Wright R-2600 engines begin to fire off, then they settle into a determined idle. We sat on the ramp to allow cylinder head and oil temperatures to come up, then taxied to runway 02. With a very loud takeoff roll, we were airborne in twenty seconds.

The interior quickly freshened as the wind blew through the airplane and in a few moments we were all quite comfortable. Eric rang the bailout bell but this was only to advise us that we could release seat belts and explore the view out the waist gun windows and the tail gun position—and the view is awesome! We were privileged to view an Ohio harvest from several thousand feet in this wonderful airplane.

The skies were clear and we rolled southwest to the Dayton area. Since this was an instructional flight, Bill instructed and observed Eric Shiffer as he made steep turns, turns about a point, approach to stalls, flew in dirty and clean configurations, and other aspects of flying this magnificent airplane as pilot in command. For us in the rear, the flight was quite comfortable, despite the various maneuvering. The ride was a bit rowdier back in the tailgunner position but even that was not bad. The difference in being in the tailgun position is that the shadows of the gunner’s canopy sweep across that compartment. It is an excellent classroom for demonstrating yaw, pitch, and roll!

As we approached the airport at Dayton, Bill told Eric to make an approach and go around. This is a critical procedure and many skills must be applied simultaneously For example, if a go-around is required, there are limits as to how much throttle can be added at any one time, and these numbers change from various manifold pressures. Such numbers are critical and must be kept foremost in mind, even as the pilot changes the configuration from an airplane that was landing into one that must arrest its descent and start to climb. This difficult task was completed with no problem. Eric then flew around the pattern and made a very nice landing…after which the tower personnel instructed him to taxi in front of the tower so they could get a good look at the Mitchell. We took off again, made one more landing and then headed home for Urbana.

More maneuvers were practiced enroute while we enjoyed the fall colors, the harvest, and the beautiful skies. But, since we were in the gun compartment, even while appreciating the beautiful scenery on the surface, we kept a sharp eye for any marauding Cessnas, Piper Cubs, or Bonanzas over Champaign County--and we can truthfully say that there were no reports of any German fighters west of Columbus that day. Apparently, the Luftwaffe has heard of Champaign Gal!

All too soon the friendly confines of Grimes Field came into view and the airplane was configured for landing. Eric made another smooth touchdown on our runway. Our morning flight had come to an end but it was a wonderful two hours in the air. We taxied back to the Champaign Aviation Museum hangar, the engines were idled for several minutes in order to cool properly, then the Wright R-2600s were shut down. Another flight in the long, and still unfolding, history of this airplane was in the log book.

It was a beautiful morning in a beautiful plane!

Champaign Gal is in the Air!

As you know, your Champaign Aviation Museum is dedicated to flying the airplanes we are privileged to have…and our B 25, Champaign Gal, is now back among the flyers! This past week saw her make several flights! These flights were made to check off all the work that has been done to her over the past two years.

The pilots who flew her: Bill Clark; Dave Shiffer and Eric Kindig report no squawks and that she is ready for the remainder of this season! We can now look on her as a flying airplane requiring only normal maintenance. Randy Kemp spearheaded the effort to get this airplane into the air again and had assistance from Jim Ridgeway; Eric Kindig and Tom Printz.

The overhauled #1 engine performed flawlessly and sounded great throughout the flights and #2 performed equally well. Getting the #1 engine back on the wing and operating was the major task but there were many other items tended to during the last two years. There might be some other items requiring attention but these are normal maintenance items, no different than any other B-25, or any other airplane, for that matter. But her new classification as an operational aircraft is a wonderful milestone.

The Champaign Aviation family was thrilled to either witness, or learn of, the initial flights and all of us express our gratitude to everyone involved in her return to the air.

Champaign Gal. Two, turning!

For those of you who appreciate history, aviation, and, most importantly, taking care of old friends, February 19 was a good day.

On that Saturday, the doors of the Champaign Aviation Museum were opened fully and as the sunlight spilled into the hangar, so did the cold. The north wind made the volunteers pull their coats tighter as the Champaign Aviation Museum ’s B-25, Champaign Gal, was tugged into the light of day. Driving the tug, Randy Kemp parked her with her nose pointed into the wind, and she was chocked in place. All of this had been done several times before. But today was different. In addition to the airplane being on the ramp, volunteers carried fire extinguishers and rolled out the ground power cart...

On this cold, blustery Ohio morning, Chris Patton and Eric Kendig climbed into the cockpit of this North American Mitchell bomber and after a general inspection of the airplane, for the first time in a long time, the pilot asked for the Pre-Start Checklist.

All the volunteers stopped their work in order to watch one of their airplanes come back to life. The sound of switches clicking, muted conversation from the cockpit, the noise of the fuel pump were carried south by the wind. But there was no mistaking the “Clear” command from the pilot and within a couple seconds we heard the beautiful whine of number two starter and the propeller slowly began to spin. The pilots ran the starter judiciously as they and the volunteers kept a close eye on the right engine as the blades ticked over.

A burst of smoke, then silence. The starter pulled the engine through again, and with another burst of smoke, the blades blurred, then stopped. The starter whined again and suddenly the Wright R-2600 roared into life, clearing out oil in a fog of white smoke. Within a few seconds, the engine settled into a staccato rhythm created by 14 cylinders capable of producing 2,000 horsepower. Our airplane was alive again!

The engine ran for a few minutes, then was shut down for close examination. The process was repeated and all looked good. After a brief pause and discussion, and some time to warm up, the crew climbed back into the cockpit and it was time to start the freshly overhauled number one engine. It came to life quite readily and after it had settled into a closely monitored, but raccous, idle, number two was started again. Champaign Gal had two, turning! It was wonderful to hear her making noise.

The airplane had been silent for quite a while as major and minor details were tended to. As mentioned, the left engine was overhauled in 2010 and the entire aircraft has been freshened up during this period. Naturally, she needed an annual inspection and while this was under way, all the aircraft systems were pored over: controls, fuel system, electrical, landing gear, brakes, and hydraulics.

There is a lot more to do to ready the airplane for flight. Many details remain but with both engines turning, the momentum is building. Under the aegis of museum director Chris Patton, and with the ready assistance of all the Champaign Aviation Museum staff and volunteers, the remainder of these details will be resolved.

One day soon, southwesterly winds will bring warmth to Ohio and we will pull the chocks on Champaign Gal. A tremendous amount of effort has been expended to get our B 25J ready for the 2011 season. So, stay tuned. Champaign Lady’s flirty little sister is almost ready to spread her wings and fly!

, History: The B-25 was made immortal on April 18, 1942, when it became the first United States aircraft to bomb the Japanese mainland. Commanded by Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle, sixteen Mitchells took off from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet, flew 800 miles (1287 km) to Japan, and attacked their targets. Most made forced landings in China. They were the heaviest aircraft at the time to be flown from a ship at sea.

The B-25 was designed for the United States' Army Air Corps before the Second World War. The North American company had never designed a multi-engine bomber before. The original design had shoulder-mounted wings and a crew of three in a narrow fuselage. The USAAC then decided its new bomber would need a much larger payload -- double the original specifications. North American designers dropped the wing to the aircraft's mid-section, and widened the fuselage so the pilot and co-pilot could sit side-by-side. They also improved the cockpit. The USAAC ordered 140 aircraft of the new design right off the drawing board. There were at least six major variants of the Mitchell, from the initial B-25A and B-25B, with two power-operated two-gun turrets, to the autopilot-equipped B-25C, and the B-25G with 75mm cannon for use on anti-shipping missions. The British designated the B-25Bs as the Mitchell I, the B-25C and B-25Ds as the Mitchell II, and their B-25Js, with 12 heavy machineguns, as the Mitchell III. The US Navy and Marine Corps designated their hard-nosed B-25Js as the PBJ-1J. In the end, the B-25 became the most widely used American medium bomber of World War Two.

After the war, many B-25s were used as training aircraft. Between 1951 and 1954, 157 Mitchells were converted as flying classrooms for teaching the Hughes E-1 and E-5 fire control radar. They were also used as staff transport, utility and navigator-trainer aircraft. The last B-25, a VIP transport, was retired from the USAF on May 21, 1960. Approximately 34 B-25 Mitchells remain flying today, most as warbirds, although at least one earns its keep in Hollywood as an aerial camera platform. [History by David MacGillivray]

http://www.aviation-history.com/north-american/b25.html

http://www.b25.net/pages/b25spec.html