The B-25 is one of my favorite aircraft. I had the opportunity to acquire a slightly damaged B-25 from a friend in the area. Now, I already have a couple of FMS B-25s, but it is hard to turn one down!

So, I bought the damaged lady for a very low price and took her back to my hangar. I let her sit for a week or so before I started to go through her to see what needed to be done to bring her up to flying condition.

She had suffered a broken front fuselage and a damaged nose gear. The other minor damage was a damaged cowling and prop.

After some thought, I decided to remake her as a Navy PBJ Gunship. This is the version with a solid nose featuring 8 .50 caliber machine guns. I had previously vacuum formed a number of these solid noses for my own B-25J Gunship as well as a few to my friends scattered around the globe.

I proceeded to disassemble her and then put her back together. I did not do this to imply anything was done incorrectly by the previous owner, I just do it for my own peace of mind.

I installed new servos for the elevator and rudder and put new extension cables. I taped all connections and tested and centered each servo before moving on to the wings. The wings did not need much work. I just tested and centered each servo, then taped the connections.

I did remove the landing gear doors and their servos. I prefer to not bother with the doors. Instead, I glued the doors in place and cut slots for the gear to retract into the nacelles. I also removed...Continue Reading