Notes:

• The PBJ Mitchell is the same aircraft as the B-25 Mitchell. The US Navy and Marine Corps designated their B-25s as the PBJ.
• Our PBJ is the last known intact PBJ airframe in the world. Other B-25 Mitchells have been painted and modified to look like one. See the article below.

Photo © Russ Drosendahl
This is a photo of our PBJ when it was flown from Midland, Texas to Camarillo in 1993. It is in formation with our C-46 "China Doll".

Photo © Eric Van Gilder
This photo was taken August 2005 and shows the progress on the restoration of our PBJ.

"It's Not a Blue B-25"
By Dan Newcomb
Copyright © 2005 Commemorative Air Force and Dan Newcomb. All rights reserved.
Originally published in the "Flight Line" newsletter, Volume 25, Number 5, May 2005.

I'll bet that most of our [CAF] members have no idea that the Mitchell bomber undergoing restoration at Camarillo is not a B-25J. The fact is that it was delivered to the Navy on March 20, 1945 and given BuNo. 35857. It served stateside as a Marine Corps PBJ-1J. A total of 687 PBJs were delivered by the end of WW2. The Marines painted them blue, added extra guns and HVAR rockets under the wings. Several even fired the Tiny Tim rocket or dropped torpedoes. Rabaul, Iwo Jima, and Zamboanga all saw the use of PBJs.

Some months ago, our restoration crew decided to be true to her war-time service as a PBJ-1J. As historical research progressed, it quickly became apparent that only a handful of these aircraft ever made it out of the scrap yard. The Navy ordered all in-theater aircraft destroyed and not one made it back to the states. Several, in fact lay at the bottom of Pearl Harbor. The airplanes stateside were flown to NAS Clinton, OK and scrapped.

We can only find eight PBJs that by some miracle, ended up in civilian hands. Of these, only our plane survives. She is the last known intact PBJ airframe that we can find in the world.

There are a few Mitchells - "Devil Dog" is an example - displayed as PBJs. They are in fact, USAAF B-25s painted blue. The prestigious National Museum of Naval Aviation, Pensacola, FL has a beautiful static display of a PBJ. It even has a BuNo painted on the tail. It is, in fact a USAAF B-25. When I contacted the museum director and asked about his aircraft, he admitted that it was not a real PBJ. He told me that they made every effort to find a real PBJ, but that NONE EXISTED. He was mistaken. There is at least one. Ours.

Those of you that visit the restoration hangar regulary are aware of the great progress made in the last several months on our PBJ. You have seen most of the upper and lower skins, along with most of the formers and stringers replaced from the bomb bay aft. The plywood floors she had when we got her have been replaced by aluminum floors that we made to factory specs. Soon you will see the tail installed and the control surfaces and cable runs finished. [Note: In August 2005 the horizontal stabilizer and vertical stabilizers have been installed.] Most of the work done in the last couple of years called for maximum sweat on a minimum budget. Thanks to a dedicated and very talented crew, we have accomplished much.

We have arrived at a stage, however, where progress will be compromised without considerable financial help. As this is written, we have acquired a significant donation that will allow us to begin restoration of the outer left wing panel. This work is to be done by Aero Traders in Chino, CA. What we need to get done, in the meantime, is finish the left wing stub to prepare for wing joining. We need to purchase and install at least one of the auxiliary fuel tanks before we can attach the outer wing panel. To do this, we need to raise approximately $15,000.

One person can make all the difference in the world. Our hope is that several of you would like to contribute your ideas and dollars and help the Southern California Wing of the CAF restore this rare and wonderful airplane to flying status.

Thank you for helping us to get this beautiful WW2 warbird back into the air where she belongs.

The PBJ Crew

To contribute to our PBJ Fund, please send your check to:

CAF PBJ Fund
455 Aviation Drive
Camarillo, CA 93010
Attn: Col. Marc Russell

Copyright © Commemorative Air Force, INC. except as otherwise marked. All rights reserved.