North American B-25 Mitchell

what is it?

The North American B-25 Mitchell is a twin-engined medium bomber designed and produced by the American aircraft manufacturer North American Aviation. It was named in honor of Brigadier General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of US military aviation. The B-25's design can be traced back to the late 1930s, having been designed as the NA-62 (based on the preceding NA-40B) to fulfil a requirement issued by the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC).

🔎How to recognise it: 2 piston engines with propellers · retractable tricycle gear · 20.6 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 438 km/htop speed
• range 2,170 kmwithout refuelling
• size 15.9 tmax take-off weight
• built 9,984made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 86 years ago, in 1940.
• 🏎️Top speed is 3.4× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 20.6 m: about 5 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 3 African elephants (~6 t each).
• 🌍Range of 2,170 km: 12× Amsterdam to Brussels.

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1940-08-19

introduced

1941

retired

1979

status

retired

number built

9,984

role

medium bomber

origin

🇺🇸 United States

makers

North American Aviation

engines

2× Wright R-2600-92 Twin Cyclone / R-2600 Twin Cyclone

length

16.1 m

wingspan

20.6 m

height

5 m

max take-off weight

15.9 t

top speed

438 km/h

cruise speed

370 km/h

range

2,170 km

ceiling

7,376 m

landing gear

retractable tricycle gear

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.