25 July 2013

B-25 Bomber: Crashed in 1969, Recovered in 2013

BRIGHTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Crash-landed near Fairbanks, scavenged for parts, abandoned for 44 years and overgrown with trees, the B-25 Mitchell bomber would have been forgotten.

In an undated photo provided by Warbirds of Glory Museum, Brighton Township, Mich., residents Patrick Mihalek, right, and Todd Trainor look over the fuselage of an abandoned B-25 Mitchell bomber that crash-landed near Fairbanks, Alaska 44 years ago. Mihalek and Trainor rescued the plane and brought it to Livingston County. With a team of 12 volunteers, the two men flew to the Alaskan wilderness in June and took apart the plane. A helicopter airlifted the 2,000-pound midsection, and a flat-bottom hauling boat took the rest by river. Mihalek and Trainor plan to restore the plane and make it the centerpiece of the Warbirds of Glory Museum in Brighton Township.

Read more here: http://www.adn.com/2013/07/25/2990159/bomber-taken-to-livingston-county.html#storylink=cpy

Brighton Township residents Patrick Mihalek and Todd Trainor made sure that didn't happen to the World War II-era plane.

They rescued it and brought it to Livingston County.

With a team of 12 volunteers, the two men flew to the Alaskan wilderness in June and took apart the plane. A helicopter airlifted the 2,000-pound midsection, and a flat-bottom hauling boat took the rest by river.

"Everything was a great success," Mihalek said. "In four days, we had pretty much the whole aircraft disassembled."

In an undated photo provided by Warbirds of Glory Museum of Brighton Township, Mich., Patrick Mihalek, center, and others look over an abandoned B-25 Mitchell bomber that crash-landed near Fairbanks, Alaska 44 years ago. With a team of 12 volunteers, Mihalek and Todd Trainor rescued the plane and brought it to Livingston County. A helicopter airlifted the 2,000-pound midsection, and a flat-bottom hauling boat took the rest by river. Mihalek and Trainor plan to restore the plane and make it the centerpiece of the Warbirds of Glory Museum in Brighton Township. AP


Read more here: http://www.adn.com/2013/07/25/2990159/bomber-taken-to-livingston-county.html#s

... Mihalek and Trainor plan to restore the plane and make it the centerpiece of the Warbirds of Glory Museum. The museum will showcase World War II aircraft and allow Mihalek to share his passion for planes.

There's more, including a video, at the link.

7 comments:

Old NFO said...

Outstanding!!! :-)

Rev. Paul said...

Concur!

On a Wing and a Whim said...

I hope they took a LOT of pictures and video of the disassembly, and marked each piece as it came out, 'cause the pictures you take are never at the right angle to answer the questions you have two years later...

Rev. Paul said...

Wing, that sounds like VERY good advice (and the voice of experience). :)

Sandy Livesay said...

Rev. Paul,

Great news!

Keads said...

Nice!

Rev. Paul said...

Agreed, Sandy. "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" was the first non-fiction book I ever read, and the stories of those B-25 crews caused me to fall in love with WWII aircraft in general ... a life-long love affair.

Thanks, Kelly. I'd love to go see it when they're done!