Photo of B-25 40-2344

[Hoggardhigh]

Hi all,

The above image is of a B-25 with the serial number of 40-2344, one of the B-25B's lost during the Doolittle Raid.

However if you look closely, you'll see that this B-25 has the S-shaped engine exhausts not introduced until the B-25C-15 production block built from early 1943 onward.

Does anyone here have any info on this photo, including when it was taken?

Thanks

 

[CATCH 22]

Why

View attachment 485649

Hi all,
The above image is of a B-25 with the serial number of 40-2344, one of the B-25B's lost during the Doolittle Raid.
However if you look closely, you'll see that this B-25 has the S-shaped engine exhausts not introduced until the B-25C-15 production block built from early 1943 onward.
Does anyone here have any info on this photo, including when it was taken?
Thanks

This is NOT the original Doolittle's plane but a replica from the 1950s. The a/c used for the restoration is a former F-10 (photo-recce B-25) which was manufactured as a B-25D-30, s/n 43-3374. This particular Mitchell was restored by NAA for the Air Force Museum in Dayton. Check this link with some more details:
B-25 History Project
I have 2 more photos of the nose and tail of the airplane in the F-10 configuration with Buzz# BD-374 - if you want to see them, just tell me.
P.S. If you visit the virtual Air Force Museum there are very detailed 360 degrees views from the cockpit and other stations of the restored a/c. Use this link:
World War II Gallery Cockpits
and check the radio call sign in the middle (in front of the pilot) - even this small detail has been accurately changed to represent Doolittle's plane: 02-344.
Why didn't they bother to delete the Clayton stacks and install the big exhaust pipe until now is a mystery for me.

 

[MIflyer]

The pilot who flew Gen Doolittle's personal transport B-25 to the boneyard in the 1950's said that it had been modified with the earlier collector ring exhaust, which made it a lot quieter. So you may even see a photo of an late airplane with early exhausts.

 

[Chaz]

This is such a cool plane, and I like the pic whether it was the real deal or not. I'm very curious about the B variant used in the Doolittle Raid. Was this thing stripped down? I've read and heard that many parts were removed so that it could conduct a carrier based mission, but the pics I find of the planes that flew are low res images, and I'm not an expert so it's lost on me what's being seen (or not as the case may be)...

In general, I especially like the variant with the canon (B-25h?).

 

[CATCH 22]

The pilot who flew Gen Doolittle's personal transport B-25 to the boneyard in the 1950's said that it had been modified with the earlier collector ring exhaust, which made it a lot quieter. So you may even see a photo of an late airplane with early exhausts.

Yes, you are right. Most of the "general's" B-25s were modified in the same manner - see gen. Arnold's Mitchell below resp. a B-25J conversion in the same style.

Gen. Eisenhower's a/c had the Clayton-stacks though:

But these modifications were done during the war for a real purpose. All postwar B-25 modified by Hayes resp. Hughes (B-25L, K, M, N) received a collector ring for the upper 7 cylinders and retained the lower 7 S-stacks for the same reason - less noise.
The post-war replica in question was "just for the show". They could do the modification exactly as the original was and don't care about noise that much. I believe 43-3374 was flown only a few times after the restoration - I even found a movie with the a/c landing and Gen. Doolittle giving a speech in 1958.

 

[fubar57]

This is such a cool plane, and I like the pic whether it was the real deal or not. I'm very curious about the B variant used in the Doolittle Raid. Was this thing stripped down? I've read and heard that many parts were removed so that it could conduct a carrier based mission, but the pics I find of the planes that flew are low res images, and I'm not an expert so it's lost on me what's being seen (or not as the case may be)...In general, I especially like the variant with the canon (B-25h?).

From Squadron "B-25 Mitchell in action"

 

[chuter]

All postwar B-25 modified by Hayes resp. Hughes (B-25L, K, M, N) received a collector ring for the upper 7 cylinders and retained the lower 7 S-stacks for the same reason - less noise.

Another reason is to keep crap out of the cylinders.

 

[MIflyer]

My high school math and drafting teacher was a Bomb/Nav on the Doolittle Raid and after the war crafted a duplicate of the bombsight they used - which was more a less a protractor with a simple sight attached. Many years later I saw that replica in a USAF building where the general public is not allowed - gave me a thrill.