Warbird Information Exchange

http://courtesyaircraft.com/aircraft/n5672v-north-american-b-25j/

I think it may have been for sale for a while now, but she just popped up on Courtesy...such a beautiful restoration!

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I'm looking for that buried Corsair(s) that I can dig up, pressure wash, and fly!

Since I'm not the n the market I haven't exactly been keeping track of B-25 prices, and maybe my internal price guide is stuck in the '90s, but $2.9 million seems like a lot.
That's P-51 or Spitfire money.

I appreciate the quality, correctness and rarity of this aircraft with its solid nose, but are they really that much, I thought they were <$1 million?

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Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.

In 2014, the B-25 "Heavenly Body" was listed for sale at $1.3-m shortly before it was sold to Jack Erickson. Several years back the B-25H "Barbie III" was advertised at $1-m but I believe came down to near $700-k shortly before it was acquired by the Cavanaugh Flight Museum (in need of engine overhauls and other work at the time). A couple of years ago the B-25 "Old Glory" was listed at $2.3-m, but I don't know what it finally went for when it was acquired by David Prescott last summer. Also a couple of years ago the B-25 "Panchito" was listed for a time at $1.4-m. The quality and the incredible completeness of "Betty's Dream" has those all beat, with fully authentic and complete interior, correct and functioning turrets, and absolutely all of the hard to find items throughout.

"Betty's Dream" had been privately for sale for a couple of years now. I believe "Betty's Dream" and the ex-Texas Flying Legends Corsair are the only two ex-TFL warbirds still to be sold (the rest of the former TFL collection remaining together under the Dakota Territory Air Museum title).

I remember seeing an ad in a magazine for Barbie III, and you're about right, it was a little under $700K. I always thought with as rare as an H configured Mitchell was, that it would be worth more. I can see the point of view of wanting the glass nose for riders though(I know Betty's Dream doesn't have a glass nose, just using that as an example).

I didn't realize that Dakota Territory Air Museum didn't own Betty's Dream. I thought they took over the entire TFL, including the FG-1D.

The Texas Flying Legends Museum comprised of two main owners, Bruce Eames and Ed Bosarge (with Warren Pietsch a major part too/North Dakota connection). Ed Bosarge decided to get out of warbirds/pursue other interests a few years back, so the Texas Flying Legends hangar at Ellington Field was sold and the 5 aircraft within the collection that were owned by Mr. Bosarge were then also for sale. Ed Bosarge's part of the collection consisted of the P-40K, Avenger, and A6M2 Zero, all now sold, and the B-25 and Corsair which have yet to be sold.

The Dakota Territory Air Museum was always a sister museum to the TFLM, sharing time with the collection, so with the sale of the hangar at Ellington Field the aircraft naturally are all now based at the DTAM and are now known under that title, though they remain owned by Bruce Eames. The Bruce Eames/DTAM collection of aircraft, which used to fall under the name of the Texas Flying Legends Museum, still consists of the P-51C, P-51D's, P-40E, Spitfire Mk.IX, Wildcat, C-53 Skytrooper, Harvard, L-5, Bearcat (Ezell restoration) and Hawker Hurricane (Ray Middleton restoration), as well as the razorback P-47D undergoing restoration at AirCorps Aviation and the eventual P-38 project also at AirCorps.

Is Bruce an owner of DTAM? Does Warren himself own any of the aircraft in the museum? I assume Thunderbird will be owned by him, but thought DTAM was largely his museum too.

The founders of the DTAM are listed as Warren Pietsch, Al Pietsch, and Don Larson. This page lists all of the current board of directors of the DTAM: https://dakotaterritoryairmuseum.com/about/

The P-51C "Thunderbird" project is owned by Warren.

I'm surprised that Corsair hasn't sold yet. I always really liked that restoration too with the braced canopy and the Brewster bomb rack; very unique among flying Corsairs.

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I'm looking for that buried Corsair(s) that I can dig up, pressure wash, and fly!

I think this airplane is actually the B-25 that my uncle used to firebomb with in Canada.

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Defending Stearmans on WIX since Jeff started badmouthing them back in 2005.

Well, it won a Golden Wrench award. That’s the same award given to Rod Lewis Mosquito and Reilly’s XP-82. It symbolizes an impossibly high restoration standard, some say perfection. That was 22 years ago and it has flown almost 700 hours.
So it should bring a record high price for a B-25. The buyer has to figure in his mind how much is it worth to have the nicest B-25. Also, I doubt the seller paid $3 mill. To have the restoration done 25 years ago. Does the selling price represent what it would take in today’s 2020 dollars? It would be interesting to see how the seller found this valuation. I wish them well. It sure is a work of art.

If you put aside the market price..the $$$ pumped into it!!!

It is a VERY beautiful bird!

The market for high quality restored warbirds is not driven by the $/lbs spent formula.

Guts and desire are the only factors!

Still.....always...out of my reach t'ill I die!!!! hehe....

Perfection......with a tacky gloss paint finish?

That aside, if I had a couple of million lying down the back of the sofa, I'd buy it - as I love solid nose B-25's....(and my late mother's name was Betty as well..... )

I wouldn't even want to guess what the paint job on that airplane cost, but glossy paint wears much better than flat paint and is much easier to clean and keep clean. It's just my opinion, but I think it's a fairly minor concession to authenticity when you consider how much longer the glossy paint will last, how easier and less labor intensive it is to keep clean, and how much better it'll protect the metal under it by staying intact. And the airplane is probably a bit faster.

And she sure is pretty.

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Defending Stearmans on WIX since Jeff started badmouthing them back in 2005.

In 2014, talking with Carl Scholl of Aero Trader, the cost of the full job of painting a B-25 from top to bottom was right about $100,000 at the time.

The paint on "Betty's Dream" has held up quite well over the past couple of decades. You can just look at B-25's with flat paint, such as "Barbie III" and "Tondelayo", to see how those have fared by comparison. Paul Allen's B-25, the most authentically-restored to-date, was finished in semi-gloss paint, as was the Fagen's B-25 "Paper Doll" and the Liberty Aviation Museum's B-25 "Georgie's Gal".

As far as authentic B-25 restorations go, the only real thing "Betty's Dream" lacks are the full compliment of short stacks, otherwise it has just about everything else going for it. There are a few more interior photos of "Betty's Dream" here, showing just how authentically complete it is inside, from back when it was still owned by the Harker brothers in Anoka, Minnesota: http://minnesotawingblog.blogspot.com/2 ... rkers.html

To me, Barbie III looks fabulous now, now its acquired faded patchwork paint, dirt, chipped edges, and the general demeanour of a proper combat 'warbird' rather than some Peeble Beach trailer queen concours entrant.

Its probably just as well I'm not wealthy enough to own/operate a warbird, as I probably wouldn't fit in with the 'ownership profile' of one...