From Dec. 7, 2010 Reuters.
The newly formed South Carolina Historical Aviation Foundation will pay $15,000 for a B-25C Mitchell bomber which was ditched in a South Carolina lake during a 1944 training exercise.
It is believed to be one of only three B-25Cs in existence. About 1600 were built by North American Aviation during the war.
The group is also restoring a historic 1929 Curtis-Wright hangar in Columbia, SC, where the plane will be on display. Among the notables to sign the hangar's logbook were FDR, Doolittle and Amelia Earhart.
In 1942, Doolittle's Raiders trained for awhile at the Columbia airport before their famous attack on Japan.
The plane spent the last twenty years in various warehouses after being pulled out of Lake Greenwood near Columbia. It crashed June 6, 1944, the same day as D-Day took place and it will cost an estimated $1 million to get it flying again.
Glad to Hear It. --Cooter
Showing posts with label Columbia South Carolina. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Columbia South Carolina. Show all posts
Monday, January 24, 2011
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Thousands Honor 5 of 9 Surviving Doolittle Raiders
The April 20th Air Force Link had an article about the April 16-18th 67th Doolittle's Raid Reunion held in Columbia, SC. Five of the nine surviving members attended.
There was a picture of Thomas Griffin, the navigator of Plane No. 8 signing autographs. In 1943, he was shot down over Germany, captured, and held prisoner until April 1945. So, this would be another anniversary for him as well.
A visible reminder of the flight deck of the USS Hornet was painted on the runway at the airport and, at least two of the Raiders went up in planes. Retired Lt. Col. Richard E. Cole, who was Doolittle's co-pilot in Plane No. 1 flew a B-25 for a short while.
Raiders who attended:
Richard E. Cole of Comfort, Texas
Lt. Col. Edward Saylor
Thomas Griffin of Cincinnati, Ohio
Lt. Col. Robert L. Hite of Nashville, Tennessee
Staff-Sgt. David J. Thatcher of Missoula, Montana
The Doolittle Crest "Toujours an Danger", "Always into Danger" was passed on to the airmen of the 34th Bomb Squadron flagship B-1.
About 40 Raider children and grandchildren also attended. There have been Reunions every year but two since 1946. A great tradition to carry on.
The Greatest Generation.
There was a picture of Thomas Griffin, the navigator of Plane No. 8 signing autographs. In 1943, he was shot down over Germany, captured, and held prisoner until April 1945. So, this would be another anniversary for him as well.
A visible reminder of the flight deck of the USS Hornet was painted on the runway at the airport and, at least two of the Raiders went up in planes. Retired Lt. Col. Richard E. Cole, who was Doolittle's co-pilot in Plane No. 1 flew a B-25 for a short while.
Raiders who attended:
Richard E. Cole of Comfort, Texas
Lt. Col. Edward Saylor
Thomas Griffin of Cincinnati, Ohio
Lt. Col. Robert L. Hite of Nashville, Tennessee
Staff-Sgt. David J. Thatcher of Missoula, Montana
The Doolittle Crest "Toujours an Danger", "Always into Danger" was passed on to the airmen of the 34th Bomb Squadron flagship B-1.
About 40 Raider children and grandchildren also attended. There have been Reunions every year but two since 1946. A great tradition to carry on.
The Greatest Generation.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Doolittle's Raiders Come to South Carolina
The Columbia (SC) State newspaper has been running articles on the Reunion of the Doolittle Raiders that took place this last weekend in that city. This is from April 12th.
One older resident who goes by the e-mail name rcorbitt, made a comment of interest that occurred when he was young and saw history taking place, but didn't realize it.
As a child, he lived near the Columbia Army Air Base in West Columbia, and he and his buddies would ride their bikes to the woods across from the base and "watch the planes land and take off. I remember watching the B-25s setting at the end of the runway one at a time and would rev up the engines so loud it was deafening and then all of a sudden they would go down the runway for a short distance and then go almost straight up into the air. Little did we know they were practicing taking off from an aircraft carrier."
The Raiders did some of their early training for the attack in Columbia.
Now, That's Some History to See. --Cooter
One older resident who goes by the e-mail name rcorbitt, made a comment of interest that occurred when he was young and saw history taking place, but didn't realize it.
As a child, he lived near the Columbia Army Air Base in West Columbia, and he and his buddies would ride their bikes to the woods across from the base and "watch the planes land and take off. I remember watching the B-25s setting at the end of the runway one at a time and would rev up the engines so loud it was deafening and then all of a sudden they would go down the runway for a short distance and then go almost straight up into the air. Little did we know they were practicing taking off from an aircraft carrier."
The Raiders did some of their early training for the attack in Columbia.
Now, That's Some History to See. --Cooter
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