B-25 History Project Archives
As part of our mission "to preserve and honor the history of the B-25 bomber and the men and women who built, flew, and maintain them; past, present and future", we are collecting and maintaining an archive of artifacts pertaining to the B-25 Mitchell bomber and the men and women who built, flew, and maintain them. The goal is to create displays at as many museums as we can, as well as create traveling displays for special events. We are currently preserving collections acquired from many individuals as part of the B-25 History Archives.
- Jimmy Sams, North American Aviation Kansas plant photographer
- George Bauer, B-25 Historian and author
- Harry Desko, Former B-25 Bomber Builder and Historian
- Jim Stella, Former crew of "Fairfax Ghost"
- Dan Desko, B-25 Historian
- Many other individual items
We maintain physical artifacts as well as a digital research library. This digital library contains digitized versions of all of the physical artifacts in our archives as well as digitized artifacts from other collections. All of this is currently maintained on a dual redundant server that is not currently available to the general public. The goal is to preserve as much information as we can for future researchers.
- Issues of the North Ameri-Kansan
- Issues of Skylines magazine
- Aircraft Data Records for B-25s
- North American Kansas Plant Safety Rules and Regulations
- North American Aviation Kansas Union Agreement
- "The North American Way" handbook
- North American Aviation Employee handbook
- Willie Wingflap cartoon book
- B-25 Pilot Training Manual
- Issues of the NAA-K B-25 Bomber Builders Newsletters
- Thousands of photographs of B-25s during and after production
- Many other documents pertaining to the B-25 Mitchell bomber
We have started the process of preserving and cataloging these artifacts. It will take some time before this process is complete. We are including not just pictures of select artifacts here, but the story that they tell as well. We want these artifacts and their stories to be seen and enjoyed by as many people as we can. If you have a B-25 related artifact that you would like to donate to our archive, please send us an email. We will never sell or profit from any artifact in our collection. Many of theses artifacts varied throughout B-25 production. These changes tell an important part of the B-25 story. We are still interested in any artifact, even if we currently have that artifact in our archives.
B-25 Parts
| Archive # | Artifact Description | Acquired from | Acquisition Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 62-34517-008 | Nose Gear Down Lock From "Fairfax Ghost" | Kansas City Warbirds | Nose Gear Down Lock From "Fairfax Ghost" |  |
| 82-31010-101 | B-25C/D Copilot Window | Air Force Repair Surplus, Richards Gebaur | B-25C/D Copilot Window |  |
Pins
| Archive # | Artifact Description | Acquired from | Acquisition Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 42-178-A | 3 Month Service "Emblem" | Former Fairfax bomber plant employee | 3 Month Service "Emblem" |  |
| 42-179-A | 1 Year Service Award | Former Fairfax bomber plant employee | 1 Year Service Award |  |
| 42-180-A | 3 Year Service Award | Former Fairfax bomber plant employee | 3 Year Service Award |  |
| 44-178-A | Army-Navy "E" Award pin | Former Fairfax bomber plant employee | Army-Navy "E" Award pin |  |
| 44-179-A | Army-Navy "E" Award pin | Former Fairfax bomber plant employee | Army-Navy "E" Award pin |  |