B-25C 41-13285 aka Skunkie

[gary1954]

I am merely the messenger.
According to Mr. Larry Russell, a guy from Louisiana "was" (don't know if that is still on-er-not) looking into buying the B-25C to put in his restaurant/museum.
He went to the airport in Columbia and previewed the aircraft by standing under its wings to see if it was tall enough to put tables under the wings.
Haven’t heard the status on that one.
The angle iron support bars on the landing gear were installed after it was towed downtown for a Doolittle Raiders Reunion.
On a sharp turn the front gear collapsed and crumpled the nose a bit.

She has re-build-able engines and props were bought from Piedmont and better tires installed. The aircraft was painted to honor the raiders.
They hosted the 50, 60 and 67th reunions.
The interior is completely gutted.

The foundation has shifted its focus from WWII to Vietnam, and is currently restoring 5 AH-1F Huey Cobras.

The old bomber “needs” to be housed in an air-conditioned environment.
She is not a flyer.
The asking price for the old Charlie Model is 35K; I imagine a little barter could come into play with/for Cobra parts.
The POC is Larry Russell Executive Director Celebrate Freedom Foundation at 803-772-2945

[PinecastleAAF]

I sent a friend who owns a large military museum to look at this recently. He indicated he would have probably bought it but they were not including the paperwork ( dataplate )?

I dunno for sure what if any paperwork it would/should have just relating what I was told.

I hope it finds a good home. I'd have jumped on it at this price a couple of years ago but times have changed. My only goal now is to be debt free asap. No more toys.

[gary1954]

I sent a friend who owns a large military museum to look at this recently. He indicated he would have probably bought it but they were not including the paperwork ( dataplate )?

I dunno for sure what if any paperwork it would/should have just relating what I was told.

I hope it finds a good home. I'd have jumped on it at this price a couple of years ago but times have changed. My only goal now is to be debt free asap. No more toys.

I know what you mean Group Captain, I'm working on surfacing too

[Dan K]

[gary1954]

I sent a friend who owns a large military museum to look at this recently. He indicated he would have probably bought it but they were not including the paperwork ( dataplate )?

I dunno for sure what if any paperwork it would/should have just relating what I was told.

I hope it finds a good home. I'd have jumped on it at this price a couple of years ago but times have changed. My only goal now is to be debt free asap. No more toys.

I sent Russell a message and let him know that the possibility of a sale is hindered and unlikely w/out the Dataplate in the aircraft. Perhaps they should donate it to a museum and take a write-off before 12-31-2010

[RMAllnutt]

I thought that this aircraft is known as being 41-13285 .... surely the data plate is unnecessary. Many aircraft are recovered and restored... to flying even... with no shred of the data plate present. Perhaps they do not have formal paperwork to support their ownership of the aircraft. Maybe that's the problem.

Cheers,
Richard

[tulsaboy]

Depending on the nature of the paperwork problem, the obstacles can be overcome. Actually having the physical dataplate is not a hindrance to restoring the aircraft to flight- dataplates are replicated all of the time, and installed on flying aircraft. Get really inquisitive and see how many flying P-51s have their original NA dataplate- the answer might surprise you. They get stolen all the time, like the yoke caps on heavy bombers (see previous complaints about 927). A simple bill of sale can suffice in some cases. Does anyone know the history of the aircraft in terms of how it left AAF ownership, and whether or not it was flown in civil service?

kevin

[PinecastleAAF]

Serial #: 41-13285
Construction #:
82-5920
Civil Registry.:
None
Model: B-25C
Name: None
Status: Stored
Last Info: 2001
History:
Delivered to USAAF as 41-13285, 19??.
- Flew as "Skunkie".
- Ditched into Lake Greenwood, SC, June 6, 1944.
Recovered from lake, Aug. 1983.
Static restoration, 1983-1993.
SC State Museum, Columbia, SC, 1992-1993.
- Displayed as USAAF/13285/GF2.
Open Storage, Columbia-Ownes Field, SC, 1996-2001

[Lynn Allen]

It was all black and just out of the swamp at the 50th reunion....

[Vagabond]

Hi Gang,

First post - bear with me.

My wife and I visited B-25C 41-13285 "Skunkie" twice in the last 6 months. The first time she was inside the historic Curtiss-Wright hanger at Owens airport in downtown Columbia, SC.

Photos of her inside are at:
http://gallery.me.com/bowstix/100018



We returned when we heard that she was outside and took more photos. They are posted here:
http://gallery.me.com/bowstix/100025




Cheers!

[Warbird Kid]

Glad she was recovered and worked on, but I hope someone now can come along and really give her the TLC she deserves. Does anyone know the overall structural integrity of this 25? Could she be made flyable without having to replace everything?

[Randune]

Here is a question that I've always wondered. Lets someone was to buy this, what would it take expense wise to move this? Disassembly and trucking to say the west coast? Would it essentially double the cost of $35k? Is there a company that specializes in doing just this type of thing?
Man I wish I could! Always have wanted a warbird (haha me and hundreds of others on WIX), especially and early model 25.

[gary1954]

Just had this exchange with Mr. Russell. Thought I'd share it wiff ya's

Greetings Larry,
I would put it out in a news letter, and a letter to all former “volunteers” that “amnesty” is given provided the return of the Data Plate, no questions asked. However, if it is found on the market (i.e. Ebay/graigs list etc), every effort will be made to prosecute, as every avenue to trace its sale will be determined for prosecution in this theft. One can have documentation or Army Accident Report for any airframe that turns up, and one may claim that this report is in regard to this airplane. Problem, it doesn’t prove anything. While you don't "actually need" the Data Plat, a new one is cool but it isn’t the Holy Grail, pedigree, its true identity. Data plates on the engines specify the engine, and not the airframe. Good luck on selling her Larry; I wish you all the best in that venture. For your Cobra needs, you may want to look at the link I provided, they have a number of Huey’s and parts, and may even be able to help your Foundation there.
See http://www.armyav.org/

Kind Regards,
Gary Lewis



----- Original Message -----
From:
To: gmlewis@mindspring.com
Sent: 8/12/2010 11:16:14 AM
Subject: Re: Skunkie


We have a lot of documentation to include the Army accident report when it crashed into Lake Greenwood. The data plate was removed by one of our volunteers while they were cleaning it up. Since they thought it would never fly again I guess they took it for a souvenir. Unfortunately no one will admit it. However, we have sufficient documentation to have a new one recreated. I believe there are data plates on the engines and will look for them next time I visit her as we have someone else interested in the aircraft.

Thanks again,

Larry Russell

[Warbird Kid]

Link with older pictures of the B-25:
http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/A ... alk125.htm

[PinecastleAAF]

Here is a question that I've always wondered. Lets someone was to buy this, what would it take expense wise to move this? Disassembly and trucking to say the west coast? Would it essentially double the cost of $35k? Is there a company that specializes in doing just this type of thing?
Man I wish I could! Always have wanted a warbird (haha me and hundreds of others on WIX), especially and early model 25.

There was a company or two at one time that specialized in taking apart and transporting vintage a/c. If you had to pay someone to do it I'd say you would be looking at 10k minimum to get to across country, maybe a good deal more. Do it yourself is the way to go.

Regarding the dataplate all i can say is 'wow' I had no idea. This sorta validates a lot of the negatives I've heard over the years regarding buying a warbird and that is all i feel comfortable saying about that.

I hope they get the plate back.