Warbirds of glory serial number#

The restoration will honor the 488th Bomb Squadron of the 340th Bomb Group, as ship 8Z. After being abandoned for 44 years, the Warbirds of Glory Museum recovered it in 2013. On June 27, 1969, the B-25 had a multi-engine failure on takeoff from Ladd Field in Fairbanks, and made an emergency gear-up landing on a sand bar. It was bought by Johnson Flying Service of Missoula, Montana, and was converted into a fire suppression bomber. This B-25 served as a TB-25 trainer throughout the 1950s before being sold as war surplus. I wanted to know more about the B-25, so while I was there we talked a little history. The next summer, Patrick and Todd led a group of volunteers to Fairbanks, Alaska, to recover Sandbar Mitchell. Together they started the Warbirds of Glory Museum in 2012. These valuable opportunities that were available to him ultimately led Patrick into his college degree and career in aviation today.Īfter college, Patrick reunited with Todd Trainor, EAA 1379, whom he met at the airport when he was 16 years old. At age 12 he became an EAA Young Eagle, and later attended the EAA Air Academy. He had always loved military aircraft, especially the B-25 Mitchell bomber. Growing up, Patrick, who is a certified A&P mechanic, spent many days hanging out at the Brighton Airport after school, which allowed him to become immersed in aviation. It’s also impressive to see an incredible organization like this created by a younger person. Warbirds of Glory is leading efforts on something that is the backbone of EAA, and that’s why I admire their operation so much. A program like this is critical to keeping aviation alive and getting young people to participate. What stood out to me most is a significant part of their mission, their youth mentoring program. The Warbirds of Glory Museum encompasses so many aspects that are foundations of EAA. In addition, they are restoring a Lend Lease B-25 Mitchell to static display. While it was in Oshkosh I helped them create a virtual 360-degree panoramic view of it for people who could not be at the convention.

They are currently restoring it to flying condition and are raising money to use it as a flying memorial to honor our veterans. The museum began five years ago when they recovered the B-25 known as Sandbar Mitchell from its crash site. I first became familiar with the museum and one of its founders, Patrick Mihalek, EAA 529904, when I visited the museum’s booth at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2017. On a last minute trip I took over New Year’s Eve, I got to see that very thing at the Warbirds of Glory Museum, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in Brighton, Michigan. It’s even more inspiring when someone younger has that passion for something that truly defines their purpose in life. Once these assemblies are complete, we can re-assemble the wing structure.Whenever someone asks me why I work at EAA, the answer is the same as it was when I started here six and a half years ago - the devoted passion of those who love general aviation. The first step of the process will include rebuilding the main wing spars, internal webbing and the fuselage section of the bomb bay. Now that the center section is apart the restoration could begin. Each piece removed had to be inspected for damage or corrosion. This task entailed drilling out the thousands of rivets and removing each individual piece. The first priority was to disassemble the center section to its sub-assemblies and components.

This consists of the bomb bay segment of the fuselage, main wing spars and inner wing assembly. The center section is the first major assembly we have taken on for the project. For our most recent updates check out our Facebook page. Please enjoy these photographs of our current progress. We strive to restore Sandbar Mitchell as close as we can to factory new with every little detail. The restoration of our B-25 is a huge undertaking in the likes that has never been done before with a Mitchell.

The team has recently completed the bomb-bay nose and is currently working on the center section and bomb-bay top section. Better known as The Sandbar Mitchell, it was rescued in 2013 from a sand bar on a river near Fairbanks, Alaska, where it had crash-landed while fighting fires in 1969.

Warbirds of glory serial number#

A restoration team out of Brighton, Michigan is currently hard at work on a North American B-25J Mitchell, serial number 44-30733. Restoring a WW II bomber is a momentous labor, requiring no small portion of blood, sweat, and tears.