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USAAF   Justin Taylan 2010 |
Aircraft History Built by North American Aviation (NAA) in Englewood, CA during August 1943 as the second prototype H model built. Purchased under contract number NAA-93. Constructors Number 98-21107. On August 23, 1943 delivered to the U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) as B-25H-1 Mitchell serial number 43-4106. Wartime History On August 26, 1943 assigned to 4020 Base Unit at Wright Filed and used for testing armament, electronics and flight characteristics. On January 25, 1944 assigned to 610 Base Unit at Eglin Airfield. On March 1, 1944 assigned to 4000 Base Unit at Wright Filed. During May 1945 placed into storage at the Oklahoma Agricultural & Mechanical College, Stillwater, OK. On December 6, 1945 placed into storage at Walnut Ridge, Arkansas as surplus and offered for sale. Postwar In 1951, purchased by Bendix Corporation and FAA registered as N5548N and used as a test bed for developing jet fighter landing gear systems. While owned by Bendix, the plane first had a blue paint scheme with white lines and "Bendix Corporation" on the nose and rear fuselage. Later, repainted with a red and white paint scheme with N5548N in white on the rear fuselage. During 1969, sold Richard D. Lambert for $3,500. He then flew it to his farm in Plainfield, IL. Between 1970 until 1981 stored outdoors and fell into disrepair. In 1979, acquired by the Heritage In Flight Museum but never removed. Restoration During 1981, acquired by Weary Warriors Squadron and restored over a ten year period to airworthy status. On May 19, 1992 it made its first flight from Rockford, IL and became the only flying B-25H model in the world. Painted in the markings of B-25H "Barbie III" 43-4380. Owned by Weary Warriors / Warbirds Unlimited Foundation during 2005 - 2008. During June 2009, purchased by History Flight and registered on July 7, 2009. Used to fly guests on an annual flight tour to raise funds for Missing In Action (MIA) research. During September 2014 the aircraft was listed for sale on the Courtesy Aircraft Sales for sale for $1 million USD. Sometime after being listed, as of at least February 2015, the price was reduced to $950,00 USD. During 2015, acquired by Cavanaugh Flight Museum (Cavanaugh Air Museum) in Texas. References USAF Serial Number Search Results - B-25H-1 Mitchell 43-4106 Warbird Registry B-25 Mitchell 43-4106 "Barbie III" History Flight: B-25 Mitchell via Wayback Machine March 7, 2016 The B-25 History Project - B-25H-1-NA SN 43-4106 "Barbie III" CourtesyAircraft.com - North American B-25H "Barbie" page removed FAA Registry N-Number Inquiry Results - N5548N Thanks to Mark Noah for additional information Contribute
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