B-25D-NC
B-25D-NC SN 42-87443

B-25D-NC

History

By 1939, the government knew that soon the United States would be going to war. Preparations began, and locations for new plants to build war machines were scouted. The Inglewood, California plant was near the coast. This makes it an easy target for foreign attack. The search was on for a location in the heartland to supplement bomber production. In 1940, a location was found adjacent to the Fairfax Municipal Airport in Kansas City, Kansas. On December 16, 1940, the construction of North American's Kansas plant at the Fairfax airport was approved. The formal ground breaking was March 8, 1941. On April 17, 1941, the first employees of the Kansas plant moved in to their office. On December 23, 1941, the first B-25D-NC bomber was completed. Christened "Miss Greater Kansas City" by Enid Bender, wife of Thomas L. Bender, B-25-D-NC SN 41-29648, the first B-25 assembled by the Kansas plant was completed on December 23, 1941. Prior to completion, she was painted overnight by Larry Cantrall (employee #145) for a visit from then Senator Harry S. Truman. Pilot Paul Balfour took "Miss Greater Kansas City" for her first flight on January 3, 1942. A total of 45 B-25D-NC bombers would be modified to B-25D/F-10-NC bombers. One of these aircraft was returned to North American Aviation in Inglewood, California and converted into a B-25B bomber resembling the B-25B-NA that was flown by Jimmy Doolittle in the Tokyo Raid. This will be discussed in detail on subsequent pages.

The original contract, NA-87, authorized the construction of 1,200 B-25D-NC bombers. These would be identical to the B-25C-NA bombers. In fact, the first 100 B-25D-NC bombers were built from B-25C-NA parts. In February of 1942, North American signed a contract to build 200 B-29 bombers at the plant and construction was started on the "high bay". By June of 1942, the need for more B-25 bombers was becoming clear. The contract for the B-29 bombers was cancelled. A new contract, NA-100, was signed on June 26, 1942 authorizing another 1,090 B-25D-NC bombers. B-25D-NC bomber construction would total 2,290 by March of 1944. The new "high bay" expansion would prove vital to the dramatic increase in B-25 production.

Early in B-25D-NC production, supply shortages plagued the plant. By late 1942, production was almost at a stand-still. Parts were being removed from completed planes to get new planes off the assembly floor. Something had to be done. North American brought representatives from General Motors to the plant to fix the problem. To decrease reliance on suppliers, the Fairfax plant moved more production to the plant. The assembly line was redesigned, taking advantage of the 376,300 square feet of additional space gained from the "high bay" expansion. An overhead conveyor was installed to move parts from production to assembly. Between April and May of 1943, the entire production line was moved without stopping production. The Fairfax plant would produce almost 4 times the number of aircraft in 1943 compared to the previous year due to these changes. Production would continue to increase throughout the war.

B-25D-NC Specs
  • Model: B-25D-NC
  • Total Produced: 2290 (first 100 assembled from B-25C-NA parts)
  • Manufacturing Plant: Fairfax - Kansas City, Kansas
  • First Test Flight: January 3, 1942
  • First Flight Crew: Pilot: Paul Balfour
  • Engines: Wright R-2600-13
  • Carburetors: Holley 1685HA
  • Fuel Capacity:
    • 2 forward wing cells, total 368 gallons
    • 2 rear wing cells, total 302 gallons
    • 2 wing auxiliary cells, total 304 gallons
    • 2 side waist ferry tanks, total 125 gallons
    • Droppable bomb bay tank 335 gallons
    • 1 fixed ferry tank 585 gallons
  • Armament:
    • 1 flexible .30 caliber gun in nose
    • 2 .50 caliber guns in top Bendix turret
    • 2 .50 caliber guns in bottom Bendix turret
  • Armor Protection: 3/8 inch plate behind pilots and bombardier, under bombardier
  • Weights:
    • Empty: 20,000 lbs.
    • Max: 36,500 lbs.
  • Speed (Max): 284 mph at 15,000 feet
  • Service Ceiling: 21,200 ft
  • Range: 1,500 miles with 3,000 lbs. bombs
  • Crew:
    • Pilot, co-pilot, bombardier, navigator/radio operator, gunner
  • Production by year:
    • 1941: 1
    • 1942: 434
    • 1943: 1699
    • 1944: 156
  • First Airplane Accepted: February 17, 1942
  • Last Airplane Accepted: March 9, 1944

Photos


Model NAA Contract SN NAA # # Produced
B-25D-NC NA-87 41-29648/41-29847 87-7813/87-8012 200
  • NAA Contract:
    • NA-87 signed February 24, 1941
  • Major Visual Production Block Changes:
    • Shortened exhaust
    • Closed tail skid design
  • Notable Aircraft:
    • 41-29648 "Miss Greater Kansas City", the first B-25D-NC bomber built.
    • 41-29784 "Furtle Turtle".
Model NAA Contract SN NAA # # Produced
B-25D-1-NC NA-87 41-29848/41-29947 87-8013/87-8112 100
  • NAA Contract:
    • NA-87 signed February 24, 1941
  • Major Visual Production Block Changes:
    • Added under wing bomb racks
    • Added torpedo rack
    • Added bubble "scanner" window at navigator's compartment
    • Changed turrets to Bendix Amplidyne
    • Flame dampening "finger" exhaust through 41-30352
  • Notable Aircraft:
Model NAA Contract SN NAA # # Produced
B-25D-5-NC NA-87 41-29948/41-30172 87-8113/87-8337 225
  • NAA Contract:
    • NA-87 signed February 24, 1941
  • Major Visual Production Block Changes:
    • Deleted .30 caliber nose gun and installed one .50 caliber flexible nose gun and one fixed .50 caliber nose gun. This required the addition of a metal plate on the nose to mount the flexible nose gun.
  • Notable Aircraft:
Model NAA Contract SN NAA # # Produced
B-25D-10-NC NA-87 41-30173/41-30352 87-8338/87-8517 180
  • NAA Contract:
    • NA-87 signed February 24, 1941
  • Major Visual Production Block Changes:
    • None
  • Notable Aircraft:
Model NAA Contract SN NAA # # Produced
B-25D-15-NC NA-87 41-30353/41-30847 87-8518/87-9012 495
  • NAA Contract:
    • NA-87 signed February 24, 1941
  • Major Visual Production Block Changes:
    • Replaced "finger" type exhaust with Clayton "S" stacks on every cylinder
  • Notable Aircraft:
    • 41-30647 the 1000th B-25 built by the Fairfax plant.
    • 41-30792 currently on static display
Model NAA Contract SN NAA # # Produced
B-25D-20-NC NA-100 42-871413/42-87137 100-20606/100-20630 25
  • NAA Contract:
    • NA-100 signed June 26, 1942
  • Major Visual Production Block Changes:
    • Change to "Clear Vision" windshield.
    • Added armor plate behind co-pilot.
  • Notable Aircraft:
Model NAA Contract SN NAA # # Produced
B-25D-25-NC NA-100 42-87138/42-87452 100-20631/100-20945 315
  • NAA Contract:
    • NA-100 signed June 26, 1942
  • Major Visual Production Block Changes:
    • None
  • Notable Aircraft:
Model NAA Contract SN NAA # # Produced
B-25D-30-NC NA-100 42-87453/42-87612
43-3280/43-3619		 100-20946/100-21105
100-23606/100-23945		 160
340
  • NAA Contract:
    • NA-100 signed June 26, 1942
  • Major Visual Production Block Changes:
    • None
  • Notable Aircraft:
    • 43-3308 currently on static display.
    • 43-3318 one of only 2 surving B-25D-NC bombers still flying.
Model NAA Contract SN NAA # # Produced
B-25D-35-NC NA-100 43-3620/43-3869 100-23946/100-24195 250
  • NAA Contract:
    • NA-100 signed June 26, 1942
  • Major Visual Production Block Changes:
    • None
  • Notable Aircraft:
    • 43-3634 one of only 2 surving B-25D-NC bombers still flying.
    • 43-3869 the last B-25D built.



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