MIflyer
1st Lieutenant
Today on our local radio station they had a interesting talk on Gen David Jones, Doolittle Raider, Great Escape Survivor and all round terrific person. They said that the B-25 was very hard to fly due to its tricycle landing gear but he still excelled at it.
The USAAF started replacing the twin-engined trainers with B-25's during WWII because they were actually easier and safer to fly and were good for other tasks as well. They USAAF and USAF continued using B-25's as multi-engined trainers and all round hack transports until the late 1950's. I have seen pictures of B-25's still being used by ANG units as late as 1965.
A friend of mine, the maintenance chief for the 9th PRS, and not trained as a pilot at the time, flew the 9th's B-25 for most of a flight, the actual pilots finally putting down their cards and taking over the controls when they were on final approach. The B-25 was just about the most popular postwar WWII warbird, being used for transports. mosquito spraying, and just plain fun. A very experienced RAF pilot flew for the BoB movie and got to handle the photo B-25, saying he thought it was so easy to fly that you could hand the controls to a Piper Tri-Pacer pilot, give him the numbers to use and he could handle it with no problem.
I think the B-25 is in the running for the easiest WWII combat aircraft to fly. I guess the Piper L-4 probably is easier, but since it is a taildragger, maybe not. I can't think of any other combat airplane that would be easier to fly.
What say y'all? I'll phone in some comments to the station tomorrow.
The USAAF started replacing the twin-engined trainers with B-25's during WWII because they were actually easier and safer to fly and were good for other tasks as well. They USAAF and USAF continued using B-25's as multi-engined trainers and all round hack transports until the late 1950's. I have seen pictures of B-25's still being used by ANG units as late as 1965.
A friend of mine, the maintenance chief for the 9th PRS, and not trained as a pilot at the time, flew the 9th's B-25 for most of a flight, the actual pilots finally putting down their cards and taking over the controls when they were on final approach. The B-25 was just about the most popular postwar WWII warbird, being used for transports. mosquito spraying, and just plain fun. A very experienced RAF pilot flew for the BoB movie and got to handle the photo B-25, saying he thought it was so easy to fly that you could hand the controls to a Piper Tri-Pacer pilot, give him the numbers to use and he could handle it with no problem.
I think the B-25 is in the running for the easiest WWII combat aircraft to fly. I guess the Piper L-4 probably is easier, but since it is a taildragger, maybe not. I can't think of any other combat airplane that would be easier to fly.
What say y'all? I'll phone in some comments to the station tomorrow.