New Santa Ana

SANTA ANA, Calif., March 22, 2012 – The Doolittle Raid comes to life on Saturday, April 21 at Orange County’s John Wayne Airport when the Lyon Air Museum’s B-25 bomber “Guardian of Freedom” roars into the air at noon as part of a program about the famous World War II bombing mission. The event begins at 10:30 AM with a presentation and book signing by author Jonna Doolittle Hoppes, the granddaughter of the famous Doolittle Raid leader, Jimmy Doolittle.

70 years ago, on April 18, 1942, eighty men and sixteen North American B-25 bombers launched off the USS Hornet aircraft carrier, on an ambitious one-way mission to bomb Tokyo and other targets in Japan. The perilous assignment, flown by members of the US Army Air Force and supported by the US Navy, was lead by then Lieutenant Colonel James H. Doolittle. In honor of the 70th anniversary of the Doolittle Raid, Lyon Air Museum has scheduled a flight of its own B-25 Mitchell bomber – “Guardian of Freedom,” weather and mechanical considerations permitting. Continue reading→

Press Release

B-25 Fly Day at the Lyon Air Museum on April 9

The North American B-25 Mitchell was one of America’s most renowned airplanes of World War II. The impressive aircraft was made famous by Gen. Jimmy Doolittle during the April 18, 1942 Tokyo Raid, and immortalized in the film, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo.

Led by Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle and flown from the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Hornet, 16 B-25s successfully completed the first strike on Japanese soil during World War II. While all the planes were lost in the raid, 69 of the 80 aircrew survived their historic mission and eventually returned to American lines.

The B-25 is an American, twin-engine, medium bomber manufactured by North American Aviation. It saw duty in every combat area flown by Allied air forces in every theater of World War II. Originally intended for level bombing from medium altitudes, it was used extensively in the Pacific Theater for attacking Japanese airfields from treetop level.

The only American warplane to be named after an individual, General Billy Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation, there were nearly 10,000 B-25s produced.

Due to the dire need for Army bombers, one of the predecessors of the B-25, dubbed the NA-62, went straight to work, without any experimental or service- test versions. Modifications were made during production runs, or to existing aircraft at field modification centers around the world.

See the B-25 take flight at Lyon Air Museum, Sunday, April 9 around noon, conditions permitting, and check out more information on the B-25.

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Tag Archives: b-25

Lyon Air Museum Doolittle Raid event with a B-25 in the air, on 4/21

B-25 Fly Day at the Lyon Air Museum on April 9