Warbird Information Exchange

Hmm, I feel the need for some Tivo programming at Casa de Django

As I remember the original pilot character was supposed to be one of the Simon brothers' relatives (uncle, maybe?) He was convinced the B-25 was "his" because of the way the nose bobbed up and down on landing. Later in the show he steals the plane (I think it was being flown by bad guys) and finds the bottle of whiskey he stashed under the pilot's seat 40 years earlier. After landing he uses it to wipe off some of the paint, exposing the original nose art.

Anybody remember the episode of "Salvage I" where junk dealer/entrapenuer Andy Griffith recovers the plane he flew on the Doolittle Raid from a jungle in China? Of course, it was still airworthy after 40 years, having been cared for by a Japanese soldier who didn't know the war was over (played by intrepid stock Asian actor Mako.) The B-25 was named "Shangri La Lil," but I don't know exactly what aircraft it was. There were also some scenes where they were using "Executive Sweet" for takeoff practice.


SN

That was actually the same B-25J used in the Simon and Simon episode as Betty Grable. The B-25J 44-30423 of The Planes of Fame that now has the "Photo Fanny" noseart. Also used in "Forever Young," "Pearl Harbor," and other things as both on screen and the camera aircraft.