B-25 "Yankee Doodle Dandy" anything you can tell me?

[N4521U]

Pictures from the web. General search, unsure from what sites.....

Jim Davidson was a tail gunner on this A/C.
A book was written by JR Davidson about the last mission.
It was shot down, all survived the action, not sure about those who may not have survived internship.
1. Does anyone have this book?
2. Can anyone tell me the model by the pictures?
3. Anything else by the pictures?

Cheers, Bill Davidson
GB40, Heavy Hitters

 

[CATCH 22]

Pictures from the web. General search, unsure from what sites.....
View attachment 503721
Jim Davidson was a tail gunner on this A/C.
A book was written by JR Davidson about the last mission.
It was shot down, all survived the action, not sure about those who may not have survived internship.
1. Does anyone have this book?
2. Can anyone tell me the model by the pictures?
3. Anything else by the pictures?
Cheers, Bill Davidson
GB40, Heavy Hitters
View attachment 503722

Hi Bill!
I don't have this book. Just by glancing at the second picture and seeing the code 6Y, I was sure this must be an a/c from the 486-th BS, 340-th BG.,12-th AF in MTO. The a/c is obviously a B-25J (don't know the block yet), based in Corsica.
1. First searched the best site on the web for B-25s in the MTO:
57th Bomb Wing Assn
2. Went to "gallery" and searched by the name of the a/c. Here it is: 6 Y nose yankee doodle dandy 43 27670
3. Good hit - serial number is there: 43-27670
4. From many sources on the web (my personal favorite is Joe Baugher) you'll find that this is a B-25J-1-NC.
Here's your girl:

"Yankee Doodle Dandy" shot down Feb 13, 1945 on mission to San Ambrogio, Italy. MACR 12092.
5. Went back to the 486-th BS history here:
340th Bomb Group's 486th Squadron History
6. Checked under "History for Febr.1945" (it's a 50 pages pdf-document incl. history for December and January). If you go to 13-th Febr., Tue. (Page 39) you'll find a brief description of the loss. For more details you should check the MACR. It's a 13-pages report, one of the few with a photo of the a/c.

If you need it, tell me.
Best regards!
Yves

 

[N4521U]

Holey crap!
More than I expected. You must like researching as much as I do.
Thanks for All of that.....

 

[CATCH 22]

Holey crap!
More than I expected. You must like researching as much as I do.
Thanks for All of that.....

For me this was the beginning:

Thus the nickname.
I've been researching B-25s in the MTO (and other theaters) for the last 12-15 years (maybe more if I count my first unsuccessful tries to identify the "Catch-22" planes in the 90's without a PC and www). Unfortunately I started forgetting many of the details I knew and need some help (sites, books, documents) to find the answers. And for many other questions I don't have any (answers) at all. BTW there is a fun fact here: the "Mitchells" in "Catch-22" copy (or rather mimic) the battle numbers of the 486-th BS.

There was a 6Y in the movie as well, called Luscious Lulu. Has nothing to do with "Yankee Doodle Dandy" though and is in the NASM today.
A new "Catch-22" movie is on its way. The "Mitchells" carry...can you guess it...the same numbers. And if you can reed the name of the a/c below, it's my salute to you :

 

[N4521U]

How funny, Yankee Doodle.
Do you suppose the nose of the real ship was painted the belly color?
I noticed the Y code in the movie planes.

 

[CATCH 22]

How funny, Yankee Doodle.
Do you suppose the nose of the real ship was painted the belly color?
I noticed the Y code in the movie planes.

The real planes (on Corsica) were NM. The OD was added in field. They had no belly colour resp. the nose of Yankee DD is NM. You can see it very well in the photo with the nose only.The OD was probably applied after the name of the plane was already there - see the awkward demarcation line. BTW the cowling ring is white.

The camo patterns of the locally painted B-25s varied from plane to plane, but the idea was the same, especially in the nose art areas:

One can easily see that the antiglare panels (factory painted) and the new OD camo always differ in colour intensity.
P.S. I believe this is an older photo of the same a/c before the top OD was applied:

Cheers

 

[N4521U]

It did appear to me to be NM, but was not quite sure.
Thanks for all the help. Seems I can build, but "I know Nuthink"!!!

 

[fubar57]

Great work Yves

 

[Kolski]

I love the oryginal book Catch 22. After the screening of the series, of course, I wanted to make a B-25J related to the activities of World War 2 Americans in Europe.
I have a question about the shortcuts used on this forum and in this thread.
What is this
MTO -?
and
"The real planes (on Corsica) were NM. The OD was added in field. They had no belly colour resp. the nose of Yankee DD is NM. You can see it very well in the photo with the nose only.The OD was probably applied after the name of the plane was already there - see the awkward demarcation line. "

NM - ?
OD - ?

Thx for reply. Greg.

 

[fubar57]

MTO - Mediterranean Theatre of Operations
NM - Natural Metal
OD - Olive Drab

 

[Kolski]

MTO - Mediterranean Theatre of Operations
NM - Natural Metal
OD - Olive Drab

Thank You! Now i understand Your posts.
What will be the best kit in 1:48 scale? And what about the decals...

 

[fubar57]

https://kitsworld.co.uk/index.php?C...=350&STKNR=350&STRH=3808&ORDN=2256&RNZ=294653
Kits World Decals 1/48 NORTH AMERICAN B-25H/J MITCHELL Movie "Catch 22" | eBay

 

[CATCH 22]

https://kitsworld.co.uk/index.php?C...=350&STKNR=350&STRH=3808&ORDN=2256&RNZ=294653
Kits World Decals 1/48 NORTH AMERICAN B-25H/J MITCHELL Movie "Catch 22" | eBay

Now here is the catch (not 22 though!): the decals for the a/cs (a/c=aircraft, plane) from the movie "Catch 22" (the Mike Nichols' movie) are not decals for real planes. The serials, the nose art, the big squadron numbers etc. are fictitious even if they appear very realistic (as they were in the movie BTW).
Greg (Kolski), if you want to build a real plane from the 57-th Bomb. Wing (which includes all the B-25 groups in the MTO) check first here:
57th Bomb Wing Assn
Heller originally flew with the 340-th BG., 488-th BS. - check this article for more:
http://www.dansetzer.us/heller/JHeller.pdf
There are decals for "Mitchells" from the 488-th BS. resp. from the 340-th BG. in 1:48. If you start a search with "Mediterranean Mitchells" I'm sure you'll find some ideas.
If you want to go with the movie-"Mitchells", the decals Geo mentioned above are what you need. But be careful - the movie planes have been modified and differ from the real wartime B-25 resp. their camouflages are pure fantasy.
I always wanted to build Gen. Dreedle's transport in "sand", with silver tires, side door and a general's star.

Never came to this point though...

 

[Kolski]

Thank You for reply! All that i want to know is there. Best!
I want to build real plane, not from the movie. But Yankee Doodle from this year's serial Catch 22 (J. Clooney) is nice and simmilar to plane from this PDF file, not like from Mike Nichols' movie.
Now i finishing Ju-52 from Unternehmen Merkur an i got some time to reed this pdf and other stuff.
Thx again.

 

[N4521U]

Well, for one the 6Y was a real code, which someone from the forum kindly supplied.
The decals were created from the 6Y aircraft and custom printed.
Catch 22 has a Yankee Doodle, but not on 6Y and not a Dandy!!!!!

I used to do signwriting and at Hamilton Field in California I did some nose art on Doug Lacy's PV2 Harpoon at an air show there.
While working on his plane I was approached by someone "doing a movie with B-17's"
In the movie Memphis Belle, if you look close at the name MB in a close up shot you will see he took my advice.
He wanted to be able to change names, and not have to repaint every time he did/
I suggested he paint or screen print on a low tac clear vinyl. It's obvious as you can see the sheet span over the rivets.
Probably did the same for Catch......

 

[CATCH 22]

Thank You for reply! All that i want to know is there. Best!
I want to build real plane, not from the movie. But Yankee Doodle from this year's serial Catch 22 (J. Clooney) is nice and simmilar to plane from this PDF file, not like from Mike Nichols' movie.

For the real "Yankee Doodle Dandy" just follow Bill's thread:
**** DONE: GB-40 1/72 B-25J - Heavy Hitters III
We discussed several details and possibilities there.
The nose arts from the new movie are CATCHy (it's CATCH-22, they must be), but are too modern looking to me. Like the nose arts of some restored "Mitchells" (or other warplanes) today. Nothing can be better than the real thing - there were hundreds of B-25s in the MTO and some of them looked really exceptional. You probably need to dig a bit deeper.
Check also Donivanp's thread here:
GB-42 1/48 B-25J - MTO II
We discussed the camouflaged J-models (OD over NG), giving additional ideas for the modeller with the removed blister (sidepack) guns and the NM below etc.
A B-25 from the "Dogface squadron" (487-th BS./340-th BG.) is another possible eyeCATCHer - check this movie:


and THIS SITE as well.
And so much more....

 

[Gnomey]

Good stuff guys!

 

[Ac0824]

Pictures from the web. General search, unsure from what sites.....
View attachment 503721
Jim Davidson was a tail gunner on this A/C.
A book was written by JR Davidson about the last mission.
It was shot down, all survived the action, not sure about those who may not have survived internship.
1. Does anyone have this book?
2. Can anyone tell me the model by the pictures?
3. Anything else by the pictures?

Cheers, Bill Davidson
GB40, Heavy Hitters
View attachment 503722

You can find Jim Davidson's book at the Phoenix historical society in Phoenix, Oregon the have one copy on display that was given to his friend Cecil Claflin who was on that aircraft when it was shot down.

 

[Ac0824]

Pictures from the web. General search, unsure from what sites.....
View attachment 503721
Jim Davidson was a tail gunner on this A/C.
A book was written by JR Davidson about the last mission.
It was shot down, all survived the action, not sure about those who may not have survived internship.
1. Does anyone have this book?
2. Can anyone tell me the model by the pictures?
3. Anything else by the pictures?

Cheers, Bill Davidson
GB40, Heavy Hitters
View attachment 503722

I will do the best I can to answer your questions. I personally have a copy of the book. Cecil Claflin was my grandfather.

 

[Ac0824]

Pictures from the web. General search, unsure from what sites.....
View attachment 503721
Jim Davidson was a tail gunner on this A/C.
A book was written by JR Davidson about the last mission.
It was shot down, all survived the action, not sure about those who may not have survived internship.
1. Does anyone have this book?
2. Can anyone tell me the model by the pictures?
3. Anything else by the pictures?

Cheers, Bill Davidson
GB40, Heavy Hitters
View attachment 503722

Cat

Pictures from the web. General search, unsure from what sites.....
View attachment 503721
Jim Davidson was a tail gunner on this A/C.
A book was written by JR Davidson about the last mission.
It was shot down, all survived the action, not sure about those who may not have survived internship.
1. Does anyone have this book?
2. Can anyone tell me the model by the pictures?
3. Anything else by the pictures?

Cheers, Bill Davidson
GB40, Heavy Hitters
View attachment 503722

As far as I can figure out catch22 has provide you with correct information. This picture is in his book it states the following as a caption
Our crew, Howard Olson 2nd from left and crew that kept 6y flying. Picture belonged to Howard Olson. My grandfather is not in the photo, he was an alternate.