Doolittle Raider Reunion

It was an honor to be a part of history this month. "Miss Mitchell", along with 16 other B-25s, overflew the USAF Museum, and were able to meet, chat and dine with 4 of the remaining Doolittle Raiders (out of 8). This gathering was larger than any in recent history, equal to that of the filming of Catch-22! The pictures speak for themselves. What a trip!
(Select Photos Thanks to Nate Timm)

(On the ramp in Anoka to meet up with "Betty's Dream" and "Lady Luck" from C&P Aviation)


(This flight gave me the opportunity to try out my new camera and Telephoto lens!)


("Betty's Dream" is an incredibly authentic B-25, featured in an earlier blog post, while "Lady Luck" is a comfortable ride)


(Decent shot... in my opinion)


(As you can see, the weather went from gray and rainy to perfection!)


(From the ramp in Urbana, OH. The B-25s line up to transition to Dayton)


(B-25s as far as the camera can see!!!!)


(The reason we are here. Four of the eight remaining Doolittle Raiders)


(Each aircraft received a plaque, arranged and purchased by the Doolittle Raiders, to commemorate the event. Alan Miller accepts on behalf of "Miss Mitchell" and the MN Wing)


(Once the day was over we gathered at the end of the field...)


(Which made for quite a sight!)


(The tail-end charlies... All 5 operating CAF B-25s are in this picture!)


(Each Raider's name was carved into a goblet, and is held in this case built by Dick Cole, Doolittle's co-pilot. When a Raider passes away, the goblet is turned upside down. When only two Raiders remain, they will toast their departed comrades with a bottle of 1896 Hennesey [birth year of Jimmy Doolittle]. Adam Galloway, Nate Timm, Mark Erickson and Alan Miller are pictured)


(We were given a guided tour of the restoration facility at the Air Force Museum. This is the original "Memphis Belle" being restored for display)


(This aircraft appealed to me... the X-32A, Boeing's concept for the Joint Strike Fighter. It lost to the X-35, Lockheed's concept)


("The Swoose" is a B-17D, the oldest B-17 in known existance)


(For those of you who have never seen one, this is a B-25H with a 75mm cannon installed)


(Larry Utter in the nose, flying past Chicago)


(Flying straight over Navy Pier)


(Looking back from the tail gunner position... what an amazing trip!)


(The crew - Mark Erickson, Me (Jim Lauria), Nate Timm, Gary Chambers, Alan Miller, Jim Gilmore, Adam Galloway and Larry Utter. The photo was taken by Adam White, producer of "Red Tail Reborn" and the coming TV show "The Restorers". The Minnesota Wing, "Miss Mitchell" and the Doolittle Reunion will be a feature on the show. Visit http://www.therestorers.com/ for more info!)

Missouri Road Trip

The trip to Missouri was unexpected, but Earl Teporten and Dick Leighninger made the best of it, while helping out the wing tremendously! Thanks again all who managed to accomplish this!
(Photos thanks to Earl Teporten)

(Big Dave, Bill Atchison and I prep the Fun Bus)


(Dick and Earl arrive at the Missouri Wing)


(Setting the prop on its stand)


(Show Me is just about ready to fly for the first time in 2 years!)


(Missouri Wing members)

Weekly Update - 31July to 09August

Good Morning Everyone!
I'm sorry I've had no time to get to the Blog in the last few days. With the major events going on, I figured I would update you all when they had been finished. We left off last week with the arrival of the P-51C at Oshkosh... We had a number of members visit to help with the Red Tail booth throughout the week. On Saturday, the Wing was awarded "The Phoenix Award" for it's amazing rise from the wreckage. It was an honor to be a part of it! While Red Tail took Oshkosh by storm, the B-25 was visiting Sioux City. The show was small but successful. Upon its return, the B-25 had a crew of mechanics go to work on her. Wednesday was one of the more exciting days at the wing... a large amount of Wing Members witnessed the return of the P-51 to Fleming Field. She was met with cheers, excitement and the press! Later in the evening, the P-51 took off with two T-6 trainers to perform a photo shoot that will land her on the cover of some foreign magazines (what ones will be announced later). Thursday a call was received, and the Missouri wing needed their propeller returned (the B-25 was borrowing their prop until we could get ours back). Missouri's "Show Me" is expected to fly very soon, and their prop was key to that happening. A maintenance team removed the prop on Thursday, and prepped the CAF Fun Bus for the trip. Earl Teporten and Dick Leighninger drove overnight to reach the Missouri Wing early Friday morning. I'd like to again express thanks to the Missouri Wing for allowing us to borrow the propeller, and make some very important show appearances! Saturday brough the Wings of Hope Charity Event. Early in the morning we prepped the hangar, set up aircraft and vehicles, and started to cook food. It was a huge success, attracting many more people than we every thought it would! The request for food shelf items was incredibly successful... 5 barrels were brought in, and they were completely filled. In fact, there is a HUGE pile of food beyond the barrels. Donations were high, as were food and PX sales. People were very excited about the event, and it drew a ton of people! Thank you to everyone who made it such a great event!

Weekly Update - 12July to 17July

Good Morning Everyone!
This has been a very busy week, with a lot of pitfalls, teamwork and roadtrips. Our B-25 Miss Mitchell has been in the hangar with problems since last Friday. We've worked a ton of overtime, every night, to get her back in the air. We had some frustrations along the way. The nose case turned out to be damage because of a propeller problem. This problem can only be fixed by replacing a prop blade and bearing. We contacted Tri-State Aviation, they had a prop. We ran a team (Bob Wright, Dave Schouveller, Steve Wagoner) up to get it, and got it home, unfortunately there was no paperwork with it. This meant we still needed to bring it to a prop shop to get inspected, and that would take about a week and a half (we are bringing it up there today for the inspection). In the mean-time we needed a prop. We all put our heads together and a solution arose. "Show Me" the Missouri Wing's B-25, is not yet flying due to maintenance issues. We called them, and they were very willing to loan us a prop. Two members (Jim Gilmore and Mark Erickson) volunteered to drive down to St. Louis to pick it up. We got it back, installed, and Miss Mitchell will make Minot AFB shortly! A HUGE Thank You to Tri-State, the Missouri Wing, and all the volunteers who helped fix the aircraft. This was a MASSIVE undertaking, and we would be lost without all of your efforts! Other work around the hangar fell somewhat toward a standstill while the B-25 was being worked on. The PT-22 seats are now installed, though they are still awaiting seals for the gear. We had out General Membership meeting... It went very well, and included several new members, and a couple of people interested in becoming members. Our membership is rising steadily. We ask everyone to find one person to become a member as part of the "One and Done" program developed by HQ. Think of how many people we would have if we all got someone to join!!! Everyone, Thank You for your efforts... the hard work and determination of the membership in this Wing is shining through, and we should all be very proud of our accomplishments!