The B-25 Champaign Gal, along with another B-25, was taxiing for takeoff at Grimes Field in Urbana, OH while giving rides before attending the 70th Reunion of the Doolittle Raiders at the Air Force Museum in Dayton, OH. Twenty B-25 aircraft attended the reunion the next day on 17 Apr 2013. For a first hand account of B-25 activities at the 70th Doolittle Raider reunion: B-25s at the 70th Doolittle Raiders Reunion.
On 18 Apr 1942, sixteen brave flight crews took off from the USS Hornet aircraft carrier in B-25 bombers to strike the Japanese mainland in a daring mission early in WWII. Of the 80 men on the mission, five still remain with us to celebrate the 70th anniversary of their successful mission. This reunion remembers them and all the brave WWII air crews who fought and sometimes died to keep us a free nation. And, it was refreshing to see the current generation of pilots, air crews, and ground crews that keep these B-25s flying.
Luckily, I was able to get a media pass so I could get out to the end of the runway for possibly a better shot. Champaign Gal is based at Grimes Field as part of the Champaign Air Museum. She has the home field advantage, but doesn’t seem to need it. Similar images could have easily been taken at numerous airfields around the world in 1942.
