B-25H-5-NA SN 43-4432

History

The B-25H-5-NA SN 43-4432 was completed in late December of 1943. Initially accepted on December 28, 1943, she was flown to the modification center at Fairfax for modifications. She was delivered to the military on February 4, 1944. For the next 2 months she traveled back and forth between the Fairfax modification center and several bases as an administrative aircraft. She spent the war mainly in training and administrative roles. In addition, she was also used in several test programs conducted by North American Aviation. Her initial assignment was to Lowry Field, Colorado. She was also assigned to bases in Washington and California. She would return to the Fairfax modification center two more times in 1944. In November of 1945, she was flown to storage. The following summary of assignments are listed on her record card:

Base Assignments

On June 25, 1947, she was sold to Joe Zeppa of Delta Drilling Company of Dallas, Texas. Her civil registration of NL90399 was assigned. In August of 1947, she was transferred to the Texas Aircraft Trading Company of Tyler, Texas. In March of 1948, she was sold to Jaques Power Saw Company of Dennison, Texas. She was again sold in September of 1949 to A.B. Wharton of Vernon, Texas. He sold her to Mechanical Products Inc. in February of 1952. Her registration was changed to the current N10V in February of 1952. In September of 1952, the B-25H nose was replaced by an eight gun B-25J nose piece. Low-drag wing tips were added in November of that same year. In March of 1954, she was sold to Alfred Merhige of Hollywood, Florida. He sold her in December of that same year to J. O. Willet of Monroe, Louisiana. Husky Oil Company of Cody, Wyoming purchased her in October of 1955. Extensive modifications were completed at that time. In January of 1956, she was sold to Canam Company of Cody, Wyoming. Frank G. Ringswanger purchased her in March of 1960. At that time, she was flown as "Cherokee II". In May of 1962, she was sold to the Valley Forge Military Academy Foundation of Wayne, Pennsylvania. June of 1962 brought her sale to the Tropical Export Trading Corp. of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She was immediately sold to the Long Island Airways of Ronkonkoma, New York. By September of 1968, she made her way to Tallmantz Aviation of Santa Ana, California. She was to be used in the filming of the movie "Catch 22". In May of 1971, she was sold to Dr. William S. Cooper of Merced, California who donated her to the EAA Air Museum Foundation in May of 1972. A full restoration was started in 1975 and she was flown as "The City of Burlington" with the standard B-25J nose. During a maintenance flight in the 1980's she suffered a main gear failure on landing. Some cosmetic restoration was done, and she was put on display. In January of 2015, she was taken off display for a complete restoration. Her first flight after restoration was April 20, 2019.

• Model: B-25H-5-NA
• Serial Number: 43-4432
• NAA Mfg. Number: 98-21433
• FAA Registration: N10V
• Mfg. Plant: Inglewood, California
• Completion Date: December 28, 1943
• Delivery Date: February 4, 1944
• Status: Flying
• Owner: EAA AirVenture Museum
• Location: Oshkosh, Wisconsin
• Website: https://www.eaa.org/en/eaa-museum
• Nose Art Artist: Chad Hill, Django Studios
• Artist's Website: https://www.djangostudios.com
• Notable info: Flew as "Berlin Express" in the 1970 movie "Catch-22"

This page represents the most current information we have on this aircraft. The information above was last updated 07/2018 with information provided by Bob Haney. Our goal is to have the most current and correct information possible. If you have any information about this aircraft not listed here or see anything posted in error, please contact the B-25 History Project so we may update our records.