military-aircraft-b-25

In the later 1930s the US Army Air Corps needed a new attack bomber. Built as a private venture, the NA-40-1 prototype flew in January 1939. The design was then improved as the NA-62, and in September 1939 the USAAC placed its first order. The first of these 184 B-25 Mitchell's enter service in 1941, and the USAs entry into the Second world War saw a rapid growth in production. Though out a career that saw the building of 9,816 aircraft, the Mitchell remained essentially unaltered in airframe and power plant but was revised with heavier and more varied offensive payload, improved defensive firepower, protective armor, and more fuel in self sealing tanks. The Mitchell was used for the one way Doolitle raid on Japan, which was launched from an aircraft carrier on April 8,1942.

Description	Specifications
Manufacturer: North American	Length: 51 ft. 0 in.
First Flight: January 1939	Height: 15 ft. 9 in.
Model: H	Wing Span: 67 ft. 7 in.
Crew: Five	Wing Area: 610.0 sq. ft.
Nickname: Mitchell	Empty Weight: 19,975 lb.
Basic Role: Medium attack bomber.	Max. Weight: 36,047 lb.
Other Versions: B-25 initial model. B-25B dorsal and ventral turrets. B-25C and B-25D ventral bomb racks. B-25G heavy nose gun. B-25H improved B-25G. B-25J improved B-25H initial with the B-25D's glazed nose and later with a solid eight gun nose.	Armament: One 2.95-in 75-mm gun, 14 0.5-in 12.7-mm machine guns eight fixed in the nose, and six trainable in two twin gun turrets and two beam installations, and up to 3,200 lb of bombs or one 2,000 lb. torpedo.
Principal User: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Great Britain, Netherlands, USA, USSR.	Propulsion
Performance	Power Plant: Wright R-2600-13 radial piston engines.
Range: 2,700 miles.	Horsepower: 1,700-hp.
Max. Speed: 275 mph. at 13,000 ft.	No. Of Engines: Two
Ceiling: 23,000 ft.
Climb Rate: 15,000 ft. 19 minutes 0 seconds