Digging through the CD of slides I've had scanned so far, here's some of
the "Laden Maiden" when John Stokes owned her.
Bill Gray making one of his famous high speed, low passes in the B-25. He also flew
John's P-38.
On the ramp at San Marcos, with John's TBM (which recently was lost to fire). The DC-3
tail belonged to a decked out plane called "CAF One". It was sold to a guy in the valley
who stripped the interior to haul electronics in to Mexico. It was taken by the Mexican
government on his third trip, and used by the Mexican Air Force.
Running up the engines. She marked her territory well, didn't she? The EPA would have a
fit, seeing all that oil on the ramp, which would then run off into the San Marcos river. Can't
do that, it will kill the salamanders! Gee, they survived thousands of gallons of oil during
the '40's and '50's. In the '50's there were a whole lot of B-25's based there.
A young me, playing pilot! Didn't know at the time I would eventually end up at the controls
of a B-25. I think the man in the foreground might be John Stokes. I know he wore sunglasses
like that, and had a yellow and white cap.
A little closer shot, that shows the ugly, but blessed, girl on the side. Only four of us flew
to Bergstrom AFB on the Rose that day. I didn't know it at the time, but the guy who had
the other student seat would become a good friend of mine. It also wasn't his first B-25 ride.
My fellow rider, and eventual good friend, was Hank Potter, Doolittle's navigator.
Hope you enjoyed the pictures of the Laden Maiden in her glory days!
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