85 years of the American B-25 Mitchell bomber

August 19 marked the 85th anniversary of the American B-25 Mitchell medium bomber, created by North American Aviation. On that day in 1940, its first prototype took flight.

At the beginning of testing, the aircraft was found to have insufficient directional stability. The flaw seemed so significant that military test pilots even refused to fly the experimental aircraft. However, the developers quickly managed to fix the defects, and the aircraft went into mass production, which continued until the end of World War II.

In total, more than 9,800 units were built in 12 basic variants, on the basis of which numerous modifications were created. The most popular was the B-25D version with two Wright R-2600-13 Cyclone air-cooled engines, each with a power of 1,850 hp. The aircraft had a length of 16.13 m, a wingspan of 20.6 m, a maximum take-off weight of 19 t, a maximum speed of 460 km/h, and a practical range of over 2,400 km. The normal bomb load was 1,360 kg, and the maximum was 2,800 kg. Defensive armament consisted of six 12.7 mm machine guns.

In addition to the United States, Mitchells were supplied in large numbers to Great Britain and the USSR, where they were used as long-range bombers. Aircraft from this family found their way to operators in 20 other countries, including Australia, Brazil, Venezuela, Indonesia, Canada, China, Cuba, Mexico, and France.

The B-25 fought in most theaters of World War II. The Mitchell was strictly a land-based aircraft, but it made history on April 18, 1942, when 16 bombers took off from the deck of an aircraft carrier and struck Tokyo. The Doolittle Raid (named after its leader) was a response to Japan's treacherous attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor.

The Mitchell remained in the memory of its crews as a reliable, maneuverable, and easy-to-fly aircraft. For example, Soviet aviators rated it several steps higher than the domestic Il-4.

In the post-war period, the Mitchells remained in service for a long time. They were used both for their original purpose and in other capacities, in particular as patrol and firefighting aircraft. The B-25 served longest in the Indonesian Air Force, until the mid-1970s.