wheelsup_cavu Posted June 24, 2023 Share Posted June 24, 2023 When we get a map of Japan and the surrounding ocean the Doolittle Raid, at least a modified version of the raid, will be something just about everyone will want to fly at least once. The following information about the raid was gleaned from a special last minute seminar I attended at Planes of Fame in 2017 where Retired Lt. Col. Dick Cole was the special guest speaker. At 101 years of age he was still quite spry. He was using a walker to get around but when they told him they were going to take him up in a B-25 he darn near sprinted to the plane from the Maloney Hanger all the way to the hot ramp. The smile on his face when he got in the plane and they put him in the co-pilot seat was one I will never forget. I ended up purchasing a book signed by him during the event and I also received a Doolitle challenge coin from Dick Cole himself later that evening. The coin and book are in a safe place, so safe that their location eludes me at the moment... -------------------------- These were posted on Facebook after the seminar at Planes of Fame in 2017 regarding the Doolittle raid where they discussed the particulars of the raid and where I met Dick Cole. https://www.facebook.com/planesoffameairmuseum/posts/10154728658433790/ https://www.facebook.com/planesoffameairmuseum/videos/10154728508518790/ https://www.facebook.com/planesoffameairmuseum/photos/a.106001323789/10154728496303790/ https://www.facebook.com/planesoffameairmuseum/videos/10154728575863790/ https://www.facebook.com/planesoffameairmuseum/videos/10154729076473790/ For those who might not know Dick Cole was Jimmy Doolittle's co-pilot for the raid and he ended up up being the last surviving Doolittle Raider. Dick lived until he was 103 and passed away on April 09, 2019 just 9 days before the 77th anniversary of the raid. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doolittle_Raid#Last_surviving_airmen https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2019/04/09/a-legend-passes-dick-cole-last-of-the-doolittle-raiders-dies-at-103/ One of the things Dick mentioned that really stuck with me was that everyone taxied to the same takeoff location on the carrier because of the overhang issue on the Hornet. I had always thought up until that seminar that it would become easier for each of the following planes to take off since they would have more deck to use. Nope. The takeoff settings were also discussed during the seminar. The reason the takeoff settings stuck with me at that time was that the Blackbirds and the 352ndVFG were discussing flying the Doolittle Raid using IL-2 1946 and the information regarding the takeoff procedures solved the problems we were having getting the in game B-25's off the deck of the carriers. So: Point 1: No extra deck for takeoff Point 2: Takeoff procedures Start Right Engine Start Left Engine Open cowl flaps Taxi to takeoff point Hold Brakes Trim for full up elevator Full Flaps (Landing) Run engines to full throttle Wait for them to reach full power. Release brakes Steer straight down the deck As soon as you clear the deck raise landing gear. With full flaps flying speed is 100mph. I am not using my memory for most of those procedures since I did use those settings in IL-2 1946 and the briefing I made for the practice mission at that time is where I found them. Quote Carl Scholl and Tony Ritzman were both born in the 1940s and bitten by the aviation bug in their early 30s. Carl came across a derelict B-25 parked at the Ramona Airport in California. Fascinated, he wandered into the FBO and found the owner. Before long, Carl was the proud owner of N3155G — even though he had never flown an aircraft before. Tony’s introduction to aviation came when he visited Carl at his transmission shop and saw him working on a B-25 rudder assembly. Tony was intrigued by the project and offered to buy into it, thus forming their ongoing business venture, Aero Trader. Carl and Tony sought out parts and other airframes to support the restoration. They earned their pilot certificates, and by 1982, they were both type rated in the B-25. A long succession of B-25s began the restoration process under Carl and Tony’s care. In 1985, they moved Aero Trader’s operations to Chino, California. Today, Aero Trader is recognized as one of the top warbird restoration operations in the world. Carl and Tony’s vision and dedication to the preservation of the B-25 and other warbirds is legendary. There are very few airworthy B-25s in the warbird community that have not been under the care of Carl and Tony — including EAA’s own Berlin Express. They were the 2021 inductees: https://www.warbirds-eaa.org/programs/hall-of-fame/ Videos of modern B-25's starting their engines. Wheels 4 Quote Download Missions, Skins, & Essential files for IL-2 1946 and several other game series from Mission4Today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlitzPig_EL Posted June 29, 2023 Share Posted June 29, 2023 I've had the good fortune to fly aboard Yankee Warrior. An amazing experience. And a LOUD one. Photo taken from the dorsal turret. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheelsup_cavu Posted June 29, 2023 Author Share Posted June 29, 2023 6 hours ago, BlitzPig_EL said: I've had the good fortune to fly aboard Yankee Warrior. An amazing experience. Congrats. Wheels Quote Download Missions, Skins, & Essential files for IL-2 1946 and several other game series from Mission4Today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boom Posted June 30, 2023 Share Posted June 30, 2023 Trying to get a B-25 airborne from a carrier would be a wonderful mission. And I've copied and saved Wheels run down of takeoff procedures. 😄 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPT Crunch Posted October 27, 2023 Share Posted October 27, 2023 Not many know the reason they had such difficulty in recovering and nearly all aircraft were lost was no beacons were ever activated, no radios manned, or landing strips lit in China because the State Department classically F'd up forgetting to factor in the international date line, the Chinese end of the operations were told the wrong day of the raid, so there was nobody there to contact. For weeks Doolittle was depressed mentally prepping himself for a courts martial but instead ended up with a MOH, initially he thought his crew was the sole survivors of the bungled recovery train wreck. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheelsup_cavu Posted October 27, 2023 Author Share Posted October 27, 2023 Good info @CPT Crunch. Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo with Spencer Tracy and Van Johnson also did a pretty decent job of portraying Doolittle's misgivings after the mission. Wheels 4 Quote Download Missions, Skins, & Essential files for IL-2 1946 and several other game series from Mission4Today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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