B-25's ...

[catch 22]

...according to Joe Baugher's pages the serial number on the closest B-25 does not fit with a B,C, or early D model, it appears to have a belly turret system as well. this number does not appear in his BuNo files, anyone have any idears?

Yes the s/n is wrong. I remember writing about this a/c in another forum about 5 (or so) years ago. The correct s/n is 42-53363, it's a B-25C-5. This particular a/c has the fins overpainted in white (in a difference to the one below with the OD fin). The s/n was re-applied incorectly.

[The Inspector]

...according to Joe Baugher's pages the serial number on the closest B-25 does not fit with a B,C, or early D model, it appears to have a belly turret system as well. this number does not appear in his BuNo files, anyone have any idears?

Yes the s/n is wrong. I remember writing about this a/c in another forum about 5 (or so) years ago. The correct s/n is 42-53363, it's a B-25C-5. This particular a/c has the fins overpainted in white (in a difference to the one below with the OD fin). The s/n was re-applied incorectly.

That's what I love about this place, someone has the correct answer to just about any question no matter how obscure-
THANX 22

[catch 22]

You're welcome!
There is another photo of this a/c from the same time (1943).

One can see that the a/c has the short flame dampers and not the single, big exhaust pipe. This was an intermediate solution (before the Clayton S-stacks came into production, used for the first time on block -15 aircrafts), seen clearly on the LIFE-photo below:

I personally find the clean cowling of the early B-25 models more "appealing", than the later one with the many fairings over the S-stacks. But as somebody said once to me: "During the war nobody gives you a "beauty prize" for your plane looking better, but eventually having fewer chances to bring you safely back".

Last edited by catch 22 on Thu Feb 22, 2018 3:12 pm, edited 3 times in total.

[gary1954]

B-25 Mitchells from the 3rd Anti-submarine Squadron

according to Joe Baugher's pages the serial number on the closest B-25 does not fit with a B,C, or early D model, it appears to have a belly turret system as well. this number does not appear in his BuNo files, anyone have any idears?

Gary (thanks Mudge) the Perplexed

Odd. Censored, perhaps? It does match up with 42-53363, a B-25C-5 originally intended for delivery to the Netherlands East Indies Air Force (according to Baugher).

I saw that too, if censored, then they did a great job at airbrushing, thanks....ah...I see that the question is answered

[Ken]

bump

[tom d. friedman]

some 25's have multiple exhaust ports to the engine cowls, some don't. which came 1st??

[Ken]

The A & B had an exhaust collector ring that terminated in a single stack. The C/D series started out this way but were changed during their production run.

I'll quote from Baugher's excellent site: "The B-25C-5 production block also introduced a new type of engine exhaust. The B-25B and earlier C versions had a problem with bright spurts of flame being emitted from the exhaust, a dead giveaway during night operations. This problem was so bad that the Mitchell had to be restricted from night operations where enemy aircraft could be expected. In these earlier versions, the exhaust from each cylinder head was gathered by a collector ring, which directed the exhaust to the outside via a single pipe on the side of the nacelle away from the fuselage. Several different exhaust modifications were tried out in an attempt to alleviate this problem. The most effective arrangement was found to be a the replacement of the single exhaust pipe by a set of "finger"-type flame dampening exhaust collectors which ported the exhaust through groups of small rectangular outlets that stuck out underneath the trailing edge of the cowl flaps. These "finger"-type flame dampeners were installed on the production line beginning with the B-25C-5 production block. These were fairly effective flame quenchers, but they suffered considerable cracking and few B-25Cs reached combat zones without the replacement of these finger exhausts by full collector rings or by the later Clayton S-shaped stacks that were introduced on the -15 production block. Beginning with the B-25C-15 production block, the exhaust collector ring was replaced with Clayton "S"-shaped flame dampening stacks attached to each individual cylinder. Cutouts and fairings were added to the cowling panels where each of the stacks protruded, creating a rather cluttered cowling shape. These protrusions introduced a slight speed penalty, but this was considered an acceptable tradeoff in view of the better flame dampening that was achieved. This feature was provided on all subsequent Mitchells. However, the new exhaust system was not all that popular with Mitchell crews, since it resulted in an increase in cockpit noise as compared to the old arrangement in which collector rings ported the exhaust to the outboard side of the nacelles." (end quote)

The individual bumps of the Clayton exhaust stacks were standard for the remaining C/D/G/H/J models. Postwar, most, but not all, variants of the TB-25 changed carburetor types and added carburetor heat which led to the addition of a partial collector ring and the return of a single large exhaust and the retention of some of the Clayton stacks as well as enlarged carb air intakes. Many of today's surviving B-25s were, at one time, TB-25s and received this mod (which is why they look the way they do). Some were never modded, while others were restored to their wartime configuration.

Ken