B-25 weapons thread (5 Viewers)

[CATCH 22]

Several posts in this (and other) thread(s) deal with different B-25 armament modifications. Modified "Mitchells" are my soft point and wherever I see a photo, I must collect it and research the real a/c. recently I came across the colour profile of an anti-submarine B-25D-5 s/n 41-30143, called "Stinky". Below is also a photo of the plane. I have 2 more photos - see attached.

Unfortunately none of the photos shows the rear part of the fuselage. The artist took the liberty depicting this a/c with a dubious waist window and a tail gun. Basically using the MTO-modification as seen in the 321st, 340th, 12th etc. BGs. In fact NONE of the ASW-B-25 was modified in this particular way. It is too obvious that one cannot have waist guns and a belly turret together.
Here's a photo of a different plane from the same batch (I believe "Stinky" could be in the background). You can easily see the correct rear fuselage without waist- or tail-guns.
Note that "Stinky" (and the other B-25D-5 shown) has the "finger" flame dampeners and not the single exhausts!

Cheers!

 

[Micdrow]

Awesome info as always Yves, Found these on Facebook a while back. Maybe you will find them interesting though some hard to read.

Weird, it wont let me post the Jpg files in google but windows edge works

 

[CATCH 22]

Awesome info as always Yves, Found these on Facebook a while back. Maybe you will find them interesting though some hard to read.

Weird, it wont let me post the Jpg files in google but windows edge works

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Hi Paul! I owe you a gallon/barrel of ale/beer for the last two pages! Man, that's the treasure many of us have been after for so many years! These all are planes with the J2 nose (8 guns) in the 41st BG. As one can see all those former modified B-25G-12 are in this list. This was their 3rd or even 4th modification in some cases. I also new about H-models with J2 noses but haven't seen a real serial for them! You are great!
The first 2 pages are kind of hard to read - I think I have similar info about a modification of earlier planes (D,G). I'll give the pages to AI and see if it can restore them. I'll report here.
Below (as a proof for something that does not need a proof at all) is a 41st BG B-25G-12 with the J2 nose. Serial is not completely visible but should be in the above list.

And another one from the same BG, a B-25J s/n 43-27882, under # 19 in the above list!

I need a pint or 2 to cool down!
Cheers!

 

[Micdrow]

Glad to help Yves

 

[CATCH 22]

Glad to help Yves

God bless you!
BTW next time when you (and everybody here) has a photo of a 41st BG solid-nose B-25, check how the nose was added later and was not a factory installation, on both: camouflaged and NM-planes:

Cheers!

 

[CATCH 22]

Awesome info as always Yves, Found these on Facebook a while back. Maybe you will find them interesting though some hard to read.
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I have the first 2 pages cleaned and written by Google-AI (ChatGPT failed drastically) - see attached. This document describes the implementation of the so called D2-modification at the Fairfax Plant (North American Modification Centre Kansas City). Those were the changes made to B-25D (known as D2) and to B-25G (known as G-12) and adding the interim armament with waist an tail gunners, no belly turret and nose blister/package guns as described in the document.
It is interesting to find a suggestion, all modified planes to remain B-25D, and not to be changed to a new variant (at least this is my understanding).
Same document (page 2, 4.) suggests that the remaining 700-800 B-25D shall receive the same modifications at the plant. And indeed the total production of the variants B-25D-30, and D-35 was 750 planes! My guess is that the variant B-25D-25 was manufactured partially as a modification, partially as a factory production with the same interim/hybrid armament. 315 B-25D-25 have been manufactured and (probably) not all of them were from the modified type.
The B-25D production ends in March 1944 and the B-25J starts in December 1943. There is this photo from Norm Avery's book showing the production line with the latest (probably D-35) planes. Even the author writes by mistake these are B-25J but they are not. If you look closely, in the second row (left) the third plane is a B-25J indeed. So both variants have been manufactured at the same time and even in the same line.

 

[Micdrow]

Well here is an unusal one that I have not seen before. Looks like possibly 4 fifty caliber machine guns under the glass nose? Also looks to have the small window to right of bomb site we have talked about before and custom spent ammo chutes in bottom of noze.

Thoughts?

 

[Micdrow]

Nice picture of the 30 caliber machine gun in stowed postion of an early morning B-25. Picture from the web.

 

[SaparotRob]

Nice picture of the 30 caliber machine gun in stowed postion of an early morning B-25. Picture from the web.

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That photo has an interesting description written below it.