B-25 aircraft lands in Port Clinton

PORT CLINTON — A World War II B-25 bomber aircraft based in Arizona made a stop Monday in Port Clinton. The restored B-25J Mitchell, Maid in the Shade, flew to the Erie-Ottawa International Airport, and it's at the Liberty Aviation Museum for the first time. The plane is traveling throughout the county as part of the Flying Legends of Victory tour. Maid in the Shade is one of the planes in the collection at the Arizona Commemorative Air Force Museum in Mesa, Arizona. The B-25 is one of the most iconic warplanes from World War II, a press release stated. It was heavily armed and was used for high- and low-level bombing, strafing, photo-reconnaissance and submarine patrol. The B-25 is the same type of aircraft that was involved in the historic Doolittle Raid over Tokyo in 1942. It was the United States' first strike back at Japan after the bombing at Pearl Harbor. Maid in the Shade is a J-model B-25, which means it was built toward the end of the Second World War in 1944, said Michael Shepherd, a ground service coordinator with the Commemorative Air Force Airbase Arizona. This specific aircraft served with the 319th Bomb Group, 437th Squadron at Serragia Airbase in Corsica. The plane flew in 15 combat missions over Italy and Yugoslavia between Nov. 4 and Dec. 31, 1944. Most of the targets were railroad bridges. "It's a true war veteran, which many of these old war planes are not," Shepherd said. "A lot of them you see flying around were built, but they just never made it into combat. This one really did." Maid in the Shade has a Norden bombsight, a tool that allowed airplanes to drop bombs in a specific area. Another interesting feature of Maid in the Shade is the signatures on its bomb bay. Veterans who flew planes like it and women who built them signed the inside of its bomb bay doors during a visit. "We believe our mission is to commemorate those people who gave so much for us to give us this quality of life we have today," Shepherd said. "The airplanes are a tool to make that happen." Out of about 10,000 B-25 planes that were built, only 34 in the world still fly. "It's a survivor," Shepherd said. Maid in the Shade is on display at the Liberty Aviation Museum this week for ground tours and rides. Maid in the Shade and Liberty Aviation Museum's B-25, Georgie's Gal, will fly together to Ypsilanti, Michigan, sometime Friday afternoon for another event.