North American B-25 Mitchell

Updated: October 2026 – A dull rumble over the airfield, then a slim twin with a glazed nose and two vertical fins slides into the frame: that is a North American B-25 Mitchell. The medium bomber from World War II is among the best-known warbirds of all, and with the Flying Bulls’ B-25J in Salzburg, one of the few European examples flies right on your doorstep. On this page you will learn how to identify the B-25 with confidence, how it differs from other vintage aircraft and where you can still experience airworthy examples today.

What is the B-25 Mitchell?

The B-25 is a twin-engine medium bomber from North American Aviation, the California manufacturer that also built the P-51 Mustang and the T-6 Texan trainer. “Medium bomber” means: smaller and faster than the four-engine heavy bombers such as the B-17 Flying Fortress, but with a smaller bomb load and range. The type was intended for attacks on targets behind the front, airfields, bridges and ships.

The first flight took place on August 19, 1940. The aircraft was developed from a predecessor project with the company designation NA-40, and the production model was internally called NA-62. It was named in honor of William “Billy” Mitchell, a US general who preached the importance of air power as early as the 1920s and was court-martialed for it.

The B-25 was built from 1941 to 1945 at two plants: at the main plant in Inglewood, California, and at a new factory at Fairfax Airport in Kansas City. In total just under 10,000 aircraft were built – the figures range between a good 9,800 and about 9,980 depending on how you count. Kansas City alone produced over 6,600 aircraft.

The versions at a glance

The B-25 was continuously developed during the war. For spotters, two nose shapes matter most: glazed or solid.

Version	Special feature	Built (approx.)
B-25 / B-25A	First production aircraft, early examples still without gull wing	small numbers
B-25B	With gun turrets on top and bottom, without tail gunner position – the model of the Doolittle Raid	small batch
B-25C / B-25D	First large production run from Inglewood (C) and Kansas City (D)	1,625 / 2,290
B-25G	Solid nose with 75 mm cannon	about 400
B-25H	Development of the G with even more guns	1,000
B-25J	Back to the glazed nose, improved equipment	4,318
PBJ-1	Versions for the US Navy and Marine Corps	–

An interesting detail from development: the first aircraft had a wing with a uniform upward angle throughout and tended to suffer unpleasant yawing wobbles. North American therefore took the dihedral out of the outer wings – and so the gull wing came about, which makes the B-25 unmistakable to this day.

After the war the B-25 flew for a long time as a trainer and liaison aircraft, for example as the TB-25. It made its last flight in the US Air Force in May 1960. After that began the civil career of many aircraft: as crop sprayers, firefighting aircraft, film camera platforms or corporate aircraft.

How to recognize the B-25 in three steps

You do not need any special knowledge for identification. Three observations are enough, and two of them work even from a long distance.

In the end the registration confirms the type. Most airworthy B-25s carry US civil registrations with “N,” including the Flying Bulls aircraft in Salzburg. Many are also painted with their historic military serial number on the vertical stabilizer; how to read such serial numbers is explained in the article on US military serials.

Risk of confusion: B-25 or another twin?

At vintage gatherings several twin-engine propeller aircraft often stand side by side. The finder helps you narrow it down.

With four-engine bombers such as the B-17 or the B-29 Superfortress the question does not even arise: count the engines. The Flying Bulls’ Douglas DC-6, which the B-25 sometimes appears with, also has four engines and a single vertical stabilizer. You will find a detailed overview of vintage aircraft in the guide Recognizing vintage aircraft in the sky.

History: from the Doolittle Raid to Hollywood

The B-25 owes its place in the history books mainly to one mission: the Doolittle Raid. On April 18, 1942, 16 B-25Bs took off from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet to attack targets in Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya, Kobe and other Japanese cities. On board were 80 men in five-man crews, led by Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle. Because the task force was spotted earlier than planned, the bombers had to launch farther out at sea than intended. No aircraft returned: 15 were lost over China, and one landed in the Soviet Union. Militarily the damage was slight, but for morale in the US the attack, just a few months after Pearl Harbor, was a turning point. Doolittle received the Medal of Honor for it.

After that the B-25 flew on practically every front: in the Pacific, in North Africa, in the Mediterranean and in Europe. The British Royal Air Force received about 900 aircraft through the Lend-Lease program and used them as the Mitchell Mk I to III, including a Dutch squadron within the RAF. The Soviet Union also received several hundred, and Australia, Canada, China, Free France, Brazil and other countries were added.

Two curious episodes: in March 1944 the eruption of Vesuvius near Naples destroyed, depending on the source, 70 to just under 90 B-25s at an airfield with ash and rocks. And on July 28, 1945, a B-25 crashed into the Empire State Building in New York in poor visibility.

After the war the Mitchell became a movie star. For the 1970 film “Catch-22” the production gathered, depending on how you count, 17 to 18 B-25s – at the time one of the largest private bomber fleets in the world. Some of the aircraft still flying today have exactly this film past.

The Flying Bulls B-25J in Salzburg

For spotters in the German-speaking region, one B-25 is especially interesting: the Flying Bulls’ B-25J with the US registration N6123C. According to the Flying Bulls it dates from the 1945 production year and thus belongs to the last and most common production batch.

Its life story is typical of many surviving Mitchells. After years of service with the US Air Force it was put into storage at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona in the late 1950s and sold to a civil operator in 1958. There it received the registration N6123C, was fitted with spray equipment and tanks and later also flew as a firefighting aircraft. In the early 1970s it sat retired in Arizona.

The rescue came from Kansas City: a warbird group bought the aircraft in 1977 and restored it to flying condition by the mid-1980s. After that it toured American air shows in military paint as the “Fairfax Ghost” – an allusion to the B-25 plant at Fairfax Airport. In the late 1990s the aircraft went to Red Bull and was ferried to Salzburg. Since then it has belonged to the fleet of the Flying Bulls, who show their historic aircraft in Hangar-7 at Salzburg Airport.

On the ground you can experience the B-25 in Hangar-7 – provided it is not on tour or in the shop. You will find opening hours and conditions for visiting on the official Hangar-7 website; a quick check is worth it before a long trip. Tips for vantage points around the building are on the spot page Hangar-7 at Salzburg Airport. When the aircraft is flying, the observation deck at Salzburg Airport is an obvious starting point. Everything about the airport itself is on the page Salzburg Airport.

More airworthy B-25s worldwide

Of the just under 10,000 B-25s built, more than a hundred still exist today, most of them as museum pieces. According to common overviews, around 45 aircraft are airworthy – the majority in the US, where foundations, museums and private collectors operate them for air shows and sightseeing flights. Well-known names on the US scene include “Panchito,” “Devil Dog,” “Miss Mitchell” and “Briefing Time.”

In Europe the selection is much smaller. Besides the Flying Bulls aircraft in Austria, the B-25 “Sarinah” in the Netherlands is listed as airworthy; its paint scheme recalls the Mitchells of the Dutch forces in World War II. Further examples in Belgium, France, the Netherlands and Great Britain are on display, in storage or under restoration.

Place	Chance of a B-25	Why
Salzburg	medium	Home of the Flying Bulls B-25J, flying depends on the season
Air shows in Austria	medium	The Flying Bulls appear regularly at major domestic events
Vintage gatherings in Central Europe	low to medium	Participation changes from year to year
USA, especially at large air shows	high	Most of the surviving aircraft fly there
Museums	certain (static)	Aircraft on display in the US and Europe

You can meet the B-25 statically, for example, at the National Museum of the US Air Force in Dayton, which is among the largest military aviation museums in the world. For on-site visits the spot page on the museum grounds in Dayton helps. In Great Britain the Imperial War Museum Duxford is the first address for American World War II aircraft; at the air shows in Duxford rare warbirds from all over Europe regularly turn up.

Air show planning: how to catch the Mitchell

Your best chances of a flying B-25 in the Alpine region are at air shows where the Flying Bulls appear. The best known is AIRPOWER in Zeltweg, where historic aircraft traditionally fly alongside modern jets. Vintage events such as the Hahnweide vintage aircraft fly-in are also worth a look at the program. The article Air shows in Europe for plane spotters offers an overview of the most important dates.

What to pack for a long air show day is in the air show day checklist.

Photo tips especially for the B-25

The Mitchell is a rewarding subject: two big propellers, lots of glass, distinctive tail fins. A few points make the difference between a record shot and a favorite picture.

You will find general tips for photography at air shows in the article Photographing air shows.

Ruling out common misidentifications

Conclusion

The B-25 Mitchell is one of those warbirds you no longer mix up once you have consciously seen it. A twin tail, gull wing and nosewheel give you the type, the nose the version, the registration the confirmation. For spotters in the Alpine region the Flying Bulls aircraft N6123C in Salzburg is a real stroke of luck: one of the few airworthy Mitchells in Europe is at home here.