B-25 strike cameras

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B

B25Nut

Recruit
9
25
Dec 19, 2023
A strike cameras were added in the field to the bottom of the B-25 facing to the rear. Does anyone have a closeup photo of this installation?

 
I have both books and they don't have a detailed closeup photo. The photo of Cactus Kitten is from Warpath.
 
Donivanp said:
As I understand it ( and I'm no expert) the camera was mounted where the ventral turret was after it was removed.
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Nope! The camera was mounted behind the belly turret and had a different opening - see details above. Hand-held cameras could be used as well.

The mods in the SWPA (38thBG or 345BG.) used the original camera window (on the older models C/D) but with an wind deflector on the outside. The newer model J received a similar cut out in the belly.
 
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GrauGeist said:
I thought Microw and Catch22 were discussing camera ports on some B-25 variants a page or so back in this thread B-25 weapons thread
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Yep, this was a couple of years ago. I posted photos showing the film camera and its attachment (field mod). Paul (Micdrow) posted the photo camera hatch (mod or not). I checked the tread you mentioned earlier but couldn't find the exact posts. Tomorrow is another day and probably it's faster to post the photos here again.
 
B25Nut said:
A strike cameras were added in the field to the bottom of the B-25 facing to the rear. Does anyone have a closeup photo of this installation?

View attachment 802098
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IMHO what we see in the initial photo is a field mod with a film (motion picture) camera, judging by how far the camera shows out of the deflector (or it could be a different modification). Here are the photos I have (all to be found for free trough Fold 3 or NARA). This is the belly of a B-25J, same as in your photo:




My friend Paul (Micdrow) added the following photos during our discussion some years ago, as mentioned in post #4:


As you can see this is a B-25C/D with the circular hatch for the camera still in place. We decided that this particular photo shows a photo camera.
Same equipment was used on the G model as well:

Hope this helps. Maybe Paul will add something more.
Cheers!
 
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And this is why we pay you the BIG BUCKS! Very good information, thanks.
 
Afternoon,

So little more info that I have and some pictures. Camera's where mounted all over the B-25, some in solid nose configureation, others in glass nose configurations. Underneath by bomb bay as shown and even behind the bottom turrent, in the cockpit and even in the tail. The modifications and installations are almost as unique as each B-25.

So the three pictures Yves posted is a movie camera. More info here.


Below are two views of a K-21 camera mounted behind the turrent with there covers off. Covers and shield were installed due to dust, dirt and oil leaking behind the plane clouding up the camera's and making the pictures unreadable. The the shields helped prevent this from happening.




Camera's where activated by a variety of ways.

First way was from the 90th bomb squadron history.



Another source on rear camera's and how they operate.

These cameras were installed in each plane of the lead flights. When the bomb bay doors where open, the lower gunner turned on the cameras. It automatically took one photo per second. The camera was pointed downward and to the rear of the plane so that the results of the bombing and strafing could be seen. Quoted from the book Air combat at 20 feet by Garrett Middlebrook.

Can't remember where I read it but some B-25's had the rear camera activated by the tail gunner as well



A while back I was trying to figure out what the lever and eye piece was in the nose of this B-25 Mitchell,



Turns out it was another camera or movie camera as shown below.



Hope it helps.

Paul
 
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You guys are great! A friend wants to add as much detail to his R/C B-25J as he can. Even after over a dozen flights, he continues to modify it. The last addition was the venturi tube that extracted the gasses from the guns in the nose.

 
Airframes said:
Only ones I've seen were located in the rear fuselage, arrowed in first pic of a RAF aircraft.
View attachment 802105View attachment 802106View attachment 802107
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A couple of days after seeing the photos posted by Airframes, I was not quite sure where is the exact location of this camera. It's obviously not the usual one (in the back, behind the belly turret). I wouldn't say I was sleepless since then but I was trying to remember, where do I know these photos from?
Today I was lucky to find the answers in my archive. One more photo from the same plane with the same K-24 camera:

This is "Briefing time" - a B-25J! So the location of the camera is completely different from this on B-25C/D.
The standard location (not the modified as in the initial question) of the photographic equipment on B-25, models H and J was on the right side, immediately after the bomb bay,

Luckily there is a very good historical photo of the camera location in a B-25H (LIFE archives):

There are not too many photos from war theaters showing this window from below (not too many, but still enough!). Here are some of them:
A factory fresh camouflaged B-25H - the camera window is clearly visible:

Another B-25H in NM - the camera window is the dark rectangle behind the bomb bay:

And my favorite one from the MTO: a B-25J from the 487th BS., 340th BG. banking and giving us a nice view of her belly:

Some of these photos have been posted in the "Weapons thread" but it will be easier in the future to find them here, under one "roof".
Cheers!
 

There are some more pictures of this mount in the B-25 weapons thread

B-25 weapons thread

Yard gnome
ww2aircraft.net
Section 371
 
Micdrow said:
There are some more pictures of this mount in the B-25 weapons thread

B-25 weapons thread

Yard gnome
ww2aircraft.net
Section 371
Click to expand...
Thanks for the link, Paul! As I mentioned above, we discussed the same matter before, but I forgot when. So it was 3 years ago. Your photo with the belly window is top notch! And I didn't copy it for my archive earlier! Oh my....
I'm posting the exact link again for an easier search in the future.
HERE
 
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