Experts at Kalitta restore B-25 bomber
OSCODA, Mich.– Kalitta Air in Oscoda lent a big hand to a Michigan museum in December.
The company offered the Yankee Air Museum in Belleville the chance to repaint its B–25 bomber. With Kalitta providing a hangar and covering the cost of paint, experts made quick work of the project. The plane flew in on December 20, with work continuing past Christmas. Yankee Air President Kevin Walsh said the plane is an amazing piece of war history.
“[Most of the planes] that survived came out very, very late in the war and they never saw combat. So to actually have one that saw combat and survived scrapping at the end of the war? Really, really rare.”
The bomber has served for 77 straight years in various capacities and remains flight–worthy to this day.
Walsh also said the plane is also a part of feminist history, produced by the many women who joined the workforce during World War II.
“We’re going to talk about women in the industrial workplace and how that changed a culture for decades going forward.”
This restoration will bring the plane back to its wartime glory for the first time in decades. With most of the work complete, the bomber is scheduled to take off for home in a few short days. Walsh says it will receive its nickname and nose art in a few months.
It will then resume its regular tours and show schedule.
