My B-25 Mitchell Flight, journey of a lifetime experience. - Printable Version

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My B-25 Mitchell Flight, journey of a lifetime experience. - 78thFG_Doodle - 29.06.2011

I decided that I'd write a piece on my B-25 flight to share with you guys, I showed off a few photos back on the 4th of June but there wasn't a lot of pictures. Questions, comments and so forth are always welcome and I hope you enjoy!

Blue Skies, Happy Landings.

-Doodle
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On June 4th, 2011, myself and a handful of incredible and fortunate photographers embarked on something that many people that think of Aviation and particularly WWII Aviation History. With thanks to the Historic Flight Foundation based in Everett, Washington at Paine Field for pulling strings and organizing an event that beguiled everyone who was able to pull themselves together after being in awe of this telling, the mission was to take up Freelance Aviation Photographers who don't usually get the oppurtunity to take pictures of Aircraft from the Air and it was called the "Air to Air Photography Class." Essentially meaning that this is dedicated to going up in an Aircraft and using it as a Photo Platform or "Photoship", and taking photos of other Aircraft known to the class attendees as "Target Aircraft." But, going into further detail the Photo Ship was a B-25 Mitchell and it's not just any B-25. This Warbird owned by HFF is currently the oldest flying Mitchell in the world, being a B-25D nicknamed "Grumpy". The icing on the cake was the Target Aircraft with four selections; the Grumman F8F Bearcat and F7F Tigercat with them being flown over the Puget Sound Area. With the last two being the British Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IXe and the North American P-51B Mustang over the Cascade Mountain Range.

The Superlative Lyle Jansma, a Photographer from the Heritage Flight Museum based in Bellingham, Washington coordinated the class which took place on May 20th and 21st, 2011. With two renowned Aviation Photogers coming in to speak to the class, one of them being Greg Moorehead the editor of Warbirds Digest Magazine and the other a gentlemen named Brian Silcox from Washington who is in the process of publishing his book focusing on WWII Aircraft, their Performance and Engines dating from 1935 to 1945. Throughout the class many of us paid close attention while trying to fight off the excitement of flying in a B-25 with another WWII Warbird just off the left or right wing. With my flight originally scheduled for May 21st, I had it placed to June 4th because I found out that a few of my friends would be on the B-25 for that date. Could it be any better? And as luck would have it, we had the best weather the skies of Washington could give us. No clouds, over 65 degrees and a bright sun. On the 21st of May which was suppose to be the first flight, and sadly the B-25D Mitchell "Grumpy" had a mechanical failure which grounded it for the day. I am still unsure today of what the problem was, thankfully the gang at Historic Flight had it ready to go by June 4th.

The weeks passed by rather quick, in school I was thinking of two things as most would since it was nearing the summer: my Flight in the B-25 and Summer Vacation. June 4th, in itself was quite a day for all of us as it was "Mustang Day" at the Flying Heritage Collection at Paine Field. With three P-51 Mustangs putting on a tremendous peformance, the Mustangs there were: P-51D "Upapa Epops" owned by the Flying Heritage Collection with Bud Grandly in the cockpit. P-51D "Val-Halla" part of the Heritage Flight Museum based in Bellingham, Washington with Greg Anders at the controls. And the last being the P-51B that I would be up at 3,500 feet with, the "Impatient Virgin" being flown by HFF Owner and Pilot John T. Sessions who was more than willing to give the green light for the Air to Air Photography Class. After the display I was able with my Father to go inside the Flying Heritage Collection, I had been there several times before but with the addition of their tanks and Fw-190A-5 with the BMW Radial Engine it was well worth the charge at the door.

My flight was at 2:30 P.M. starting off with a briefing with pilots John Sessions who'd be flying the P-51 and the B-25 Pilots being Nancy Robertson and Mike Lambert, along with Luke Heckerman who was our Safety instructor before and during the flight for the four of us flying in the waist. An hour before the flight, Lyle Jansma asked me if my Dad wanted to fly in the nose of the B-25 because they coudn't find a fifth photographer to meet the maximum and my Dad instantly took the offer. At the Briefing all of us were wearing P-51 Mustang Shirts and Hats, John Sessions said "Well, looks like this is the Mustang flight. But, I don't see any tatoos." He originally planned to fly the Spitfire but realized he was surrounded by Mustang fanatics, and being the true Americans we were we said P-51 after we were asked what we wanted the Target Aircraft to be between the Mustang and Spitfires. The next question was if we wanted to shoot the Target Aircraft with Mountains in the background for water, being that mountainous sections of Washington State are snow capped year round it would sort of represent the Alps. There was no discussion needed, we all agreed upon the Mountains. It would be an estimated 40-50 minute flight with plenty of time to take pictures of the P-51.

Now, before the flight we underwent the Safety Procedures in the Waist with our instructor Luke Heckerman. And as chance would have it, I had the most comfortable seat in the Aircraft. In the B-25D there was no tail gunner such as the B-25J had, so shooting from the six o'clock of the Mitchell was out of the deal. However, in the B-25 waist there were a few circular windows that we were able to shoot through. The window on the starbord (right) side of the waist wouldn't open, but the port (left) side was working properly and would be opened when the bell would be rung from the pilots signaling to us that Luke would open and we'd begin our field day with the Mustang, so to speak. In case of Air sickness we had large bags to use if needed, pretty self explanatory what they'd be used for.

The flight in the B-25D Mitchell:

Take off time was actually 3:40 P.M., this was because there were flights beforehand that were taking up other Photographers. With my earplugs in, the R-2600 Radial Engines came to life and that's where the hair stood up on the back of the neck. And sure enough, we started taxiing with the P-51 infront of us however none of us in the waist could see it. In the B-25 we were in there was a 550 Gallon Ferry Tank in the Bomb Bay which is there from the flight the B-25 had taken a year earlier from Duxford, England to Washington through a wonderful journey that took place in a period of three days. And the grins never left, we had smiles on our faces the entire trip except for me at a few points. The reason why is because, I had a mixture of emotions. I felt astonished, beguiled, amazed and a little bit of a history lesson tied in as well. I'm a WWII buff especially when it comes to WWII Allied Aircraft and I've read about Fighter and Bomber Aircraft Missions in books and seen on TV, I took a moment to just remember all the people lost in WWII on both sides, of the civilians and others who were effected by the darkests hours from 1939 to 1945. And then it was back to the smiling and excitement. Within about ten minutes of our taxiing we were wheels up and over Puget Sound, I started taking pictures like mad shooting with my Nikon D300 and using a 18mm to 55mm lens. Looking down, I could see just about everything you'd expect to see in a busy city but I could help to think what a bunch of studs we felt like to a certain point. Flying over some of the more flat lands in Washington with the Puget Sound coast behind us, the bell rang from the B-25 pilots letting Luke know to open up the windown and because I had the seat that was diagonally across from the window and behind the Engines my left ear plug was blown out twice. In a picture of me below the string that keeps the two plugs together kept flying up into my face so I took my plugs out for about ten seconds, and boy was it ever loud but it wasn't unbearable. I threw the string over my head and crammed the plugs in, then Luke taps me on the knee and points to the P-51 pulling up on our right wing. I got out of my seat and crouched down on the floot of the Waist and just sat there with my jaw dropped and locked, the first thing that went through my mind was "Is this real? Or am I dreaming?" And then I just started firing away, I got up into the other seat that was next to the Ferry Tank and gave my friends, Todd and Brendan the window to shoot out of while I was in shock but the good kind of shock of that's possible. The Mustang peeled off and we started to climb out towards Mount Pilchuck, my buddy Brendan said to stand on my seat and look out through the top turret. The .50 Caliber Machine Guns where fixed to the six o'clock which turned out to make a great photo, and the P-51 reappears on the left wing this time and I was peering out through the plexiglass. That moment is what selled it for me, the pictures through the Top Turrent we fairly blurry but looking out through the that turret was indescribable. I spun around and looked toward the 12 o'clock of the B-25, sure enough there was Mount Pilchuck with it's beautiful scenery that I knew was going to make for some great photos. The P-51 pulled up on our left we as we flew along the side of the mountain, with the window open I got on my knees shooting rapidly and he was so cloud you could make out the color of his flight helmet. Of all my photos, the favorites are the mountain shots because it was so picturesque and many of my friends agreed when they saw the photos that it certainly paid off, choosing the mountains over water. Then we started our return leg home, on the way back towards Paine Field the Mustang pulled up one more time on the right wing and as John pulled off I could faintly hear the Merlin engine adding just another bone chilling addition. When we come over the Puget Sound the gear was lowered and the sun was glaring off the water which made me think if I would be able to get a photo of it that would turn our decent. With the day proving to have nothing but positives I nailed the shot I wanted, wheels down showing the late afternoon sun bouncing off the water below. And we came in for a smooth landing at Paine, as we taxied back to the Hangers of Historic Flight my appreciation of History became full circle being 16 years old I had a chance to experience something that people of my generation only see in Hollywood films and taught in their history classes and I am overwhelming thankful for it. We shut down, opened the door on the floor of the B-25 and hopped out and Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren who was one of the masterminds behind the Class asked me "Well, Mitchell how was it?" With a smile the size of Alaska, I said "Oh my gosh, what can you say?" Standing next to him was John T. Sessions who said "Thank you, young man", then shook my hand. We took a group photo with the pilots, our Instructor Luke and the lucky people who went up on the Memory that will be stuck with us until our dieing days. It was the greatest experience, memory or whatever you want to call it. I'd say journey, that's what I have written down in my flight log.

Concluding all of this, I would like to the following people involved in this Operation: Historic Flight Foundation, Heritage Flight Museum, Flying Heritage Collection, Brian Silcox, Greg Moorehead, Luke Heckerman, Nancy Robertson, Greg Anders, Bud Granley, Mike Lambert, Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, Brendan Bayne, Todd Gehrke and the last two are Lyle Jansma the man who's been able to pull a few strings for me in the past such as getting me into the cockpits of a P-51 and and AD-4 Skyraider. The final one being my Dad who got interested in WWII History and Aviation and paid for the flight, if it wasn't for Lyle and my Dad I wouldn't have been able to attend. And I'd also like to thank everyone who's taken their time to sit down and read my piece on the Class and the B-25 flight, I wish you all that someday you'll have a chance to have something like this happen in your lives. Thank you.

-Mitchell Babarovich, 78thFG_Doodle

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Re: My B-25 Mitchell Flight, journey of a lifetime experienc - KG64_Cnopicilin - 29.06.2011

Lovely pictures, don't have time to read the story though...

What kind of camera do you have?

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Re: My B-25 Mitchell Flight, journey of a lifetime experienc - 78thFG_Doodle - 29.06.2011

Nikon D3000, 18-55mm lens and a 75-300mm lens.

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