The North American B-25 “Mitchell” was a twin engine, medium weight bomber, that was used by the United States in World War II. The aircraft was developed by North American Aviation. The as NA-62 designated prototype had its first flight on 19th August 1940. To honor of General Billy Mitchell it received the nickname “Mitchell”. The Mitchell was used by the Air Forces of the United States, Great Britain, Australia, China, the Netherlands and the Soviet Union. All in all 9,984 B-25 bombers were produced.
The best known mission of the B-25 was the bombing raid on Tokyo planned by Lieutenant Colonel James „Jimmy“ H. Doolittle who planned the mission named “Doolittle Raid”, which was started on 18th April 1942 from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet.
B-25 on the deck of the USS Hornet during Doolittle Raid
On 28th July 1945 a B-25 bomber collided, because of a navigation error and bad weather, with the Empire State Building.