'How 'Boot That!?' SN 44-28925, Authentic B-25

Story and Photos by ANN Warbird Feature Correspondent Tom Griffith

The North American B-25 "Mitchell" medium bomber was one of the many stars of WWII. Flown in all theatres in all roles except dogfighter, it was one of the most versatile aircraft of the War. It served the US, Great Britain, China and other countries. It stayed in US service as the TB-25 until the 1950s, serving in a training role or as a personnel transport.

It is because the USAF continued to use these twin-tailed beauties into the 1950s that many B-25s, in various versions and guises, have survived and kept flying, or have been restored to flying condition. At last count, over 150 are airworthy. 

I have had the pleasure of seeing a number of them at airshows and in museums, and I have loved every one of them. 

Nearly every one has a name and the nose art to go along with it, be it a B-25 or the USN version called the PBJ. Among them are Yellow Rose, Ruptured Duck, Hoosier Honey, Special Delivery, and Devil Dog, to name a few.

This article is about a particular B-25-J that I have seen only in a museum, but it is airworthy. This gorgeous machine has a name that is perfect in more ways than one: How 'Boot That!?. The combination of exclamation point and question mark behind its name is very fitting. My personal thought, upon seeing this beautiful warbird that, up until the spring of 2000, I didn't even know existed, was literally, "how about that!" The rest of the article will explain why this warbird nut was so taken by this pristine Mitchell.

Photos of post-Korean War B-25's flown by the US military show squared-off air intake boxes as well as the "combination" of seven J-pipes and single manifold exhausts for the other seven cylinders on each engine. The WWII versions had either a single ring-type collector for all 14 cylinders on each engine in the early models, or 14 individual J-pipe exhausts which exited the nacelle via "warts" that completely encircled the engine installation. Nearly every airworthy B-25 out there today is missing WWII-type air intakes and exhaust systems - one that is not so modified is the subject of my article.

I must digress.

In the last year, I have learned a number of facts about the Mitchell that come from a friend's first-hand experience. Over a year ago, I made the acquaintance of a very interesting and informative gentleman, Tom Drennan, thanks to the Internet. He had found my home page, which features a few pictures of my family, and over 100 personal photos of warbirds. Mr. Drennan served our country in the USAF in the 1950's and worked on B-25s (to name one of many aircraft). He also became a civilian pilot after his service years and even flew a "civilianized" B-25 delivering, of all things, newspapers. He provided the answer to a question that I've had for years about the air intakes. 

Tom said that the air intakes that were on the B-25 in WWII were found to be almost perfect for encouraging the formation of ice, which is obviously bad to have in between the engine and its source of required air! Heating coils were installed at the mouth of the opening and they proved to be only a partial solution to the icing problem. The next step was replacing the elegant intakes with much larger, taller "boxes." Enlarging the intake opening also helped keep intake air flowing at a lower velocity than seen with the smaller openings, thereby reducing the venturi effect. This most probably had a resultant effect of decreased likelihood of ice formation. Heaters were also installed in the "boxes" to further discourage ice formation. Therefore, the modification to the air intakes helped to prevent icing in the intake system... The reason for the half-and-half exhaust systems is not so clear.

In April of 2000, I made a trip to the Dallas, TX area to visit a flight museum in nearby Addison. I had only recently heard about the flight museum there: the Cavanaugh Flight Museum at the Addison Airport.

They have a good number of airworthy warbirds, both piston and jet. The most spectacular one, as far as I was concerned, was their B-25-J, which is the most authentic B-25 restoration that I've ever seen. It is missing the two more "modern" variations that I've described above. It had the original air intakes and the correct individual (14 on each nacelle...I counted them!) J-pipes and corresponding "reverse louvers" in the engine cowlings. Hopefully this baby at least has heating coils inside the intakes, lest the R-2600s should ice up while sucking in the big quantities of air that each needs to keep the gas burning!

More notably to most warbird aficionados, though, is a story that is, I'd bet, unique in the warbird community. It concerns the history of this fine B-25. Most every other airworthy warbird on the circuit is a collection of parts from often a great number of warbirds, assembled with new construction when required, with the final result being a representation of a particular warbird. 

I cannot speak with absolute authority, but I feel that How 'Boot That!? can boast two things that no other WWII vintage warbird can: First, it is a restored plane that appears today as it did when it flew combat missions in the Mediterranean Theatre in the latter part of WWII. The second, and most amazing fact is that in July, 1995 the nose art was not only reproduced very accurately during the 2½ year restoration , but the work was performed by the same man both times! When the restoration was far enough along for the museum to reproduce the original nose art, someone did a little research and found out the name of the artist. His name was Jack Kowalik, and he was an instrument specialist with the 310th Bomb Group during the War. It turned out that Mr. Kowalik was still alive and well, and in possession of his mental and physical faculties, and also still in possession of the same paint set that he'd used back in December, 1944 -- the first time that he painted the nose art. In recreating the nose art some 50 years later, he even used the same paint and brushes, but had to buy more black paint, as I was told by the museum staff.

How 'Boot That!? not only is accurate as one can get today, but a person from the plane's past came forward to ensure that the plane's present and future would keep it true to its name.

The results of the restoration are stunning, and as Paul Harvey would say, now you know the rest of the story.

[The photos which accompany this article were taken by ANN Warbird Feature Correspondent, Tom Griffith, on 6/26/01 on a second trip to the Cavanaugh Flight Museum. He thanks Kevin Raulie, the Museum Director and Pilot, for allowing him to take close-ups, both outside and inside of this Mitchell. Special thanks to one of the museum's A&P technicians, Val Burns, who helped Tom with details on her story, as well as enabling him to get up-close-and-personal with this machine. --ed.]

FMI: http://community.webshots.com/user/tomlou41, http://www.cavanaughflightmuseum.com/