North American PBJ Mitchell
The North American B-25 Mitchell is a twin-engine medium bomber best remembered for the 1942 Doolittle Raid, in which sixteen of them launched from an aircraft carrier to strike Tokyo — the first American air raid on the Japanese home islands. Carrier launches were never part of the original design; the bombers had to be stripped of weight and given a running start down a much shorter deck than a typical bomber runway. Its twin tail fins and rugged, heavily armed nose made it instantly recognisable and effective at low-level attack missions throughout the war. Thousands were built, and a number remain airworthy today at air shows.
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Did you know?
The B-25 is the only US military aircraft named for a specific person — General Billy Mitchell, the outspoken interwar prophet of air power.
Specifications
| Length | 16.1 m (53 ft) |
|---|---|
| Wingspan | 20.6 m (68 ft) |
| Height | 4.8 m (16 ft) |
| Persons on board | 5 |
| Crew | 5 |
| Maximum take-off weight | 16.5 t |
| Range | 1,350 NM (2,500 km) |
| Maximum speed | 230 kt (426 km/h) |
| Service ceiling | 24,200 ft (7,376 m) |
| Optimum ceiling | 13,000 ft (3,962 m) |
| Rate of climb | 980 ft/min (5 m/s) |
| Take-off distance | 456 m (1,496 ft) |
| Engines | 2x Wright R-2600 |
| Units built | 706 |
Curated by CatchFlights from manufacturer documents, ICAO Doc 8643 and reference works; values are left out where no source could confirm them. Sources are listed on our credits page.
In CatchFlights
In CatchFlights the North American PBJ Mitchell starts as a Legendary catch. The tier is an editorial judgement of how special a sighting of this type is. The more often you catch it, the closer it moves to Common for you. The first catch of a legendary type pays a bonus of its own.
A catch counts for the manufacturer North American, the PBJ Mitchell family and the model in your collection, and the daily Type Rating quiz asks about the types of each family.
Catch it yourself.CatchFlights shows the aircraft flying near you on a radar, so a type like this one is only a catch away when it passes overhead. Explore CatchFlights.
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