B-25 B-model United States Army Air Forces Mitchell Bomber. This Boeing B25B was flown by Lt. Col. James Doolittle on the Doolittle Raid over Tokyo of April 18, 1942. By Air Force One; AF1-0111

I bought this as I wound be spending the weekend at an event with Mr. Dick Cole. He signed the wing for me.

Very nice

I just got the limited version of this replica the revised version of the B-25B that was used in the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo and Japan in WW II. This a very high quality reproduction made primary of diecast metal (it is a very dense and heavy model), with some features made of plastic. There are a couple of minor thing that the replica gets wrong. While they pulled most of the machine guns on the plan, they did put broom sticks painted black that pointed out of the end of the tail section. If you look at photos of the B-25s on the deck of the U.S.S. Hornet, you will see a number of the B-25s with these fake guns. But for the most part this is dead on. The Doolittle B-25s were essentially stripped down versions. The crawlspace that normally would have allowed access to the back of the bomber was filled with additional gas tanks, while many parts of the plane were eliminated, like the radios, bombsights (a rudimentary bombsight was used in this raid; they didn't dare use the famed Norden bombsight out of fear that it might fall into enemy hands).The Doolittle Raid was the joint creation of several remarkable individuals. It began with Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor told his chiefs of staff that he wanted a plan developed ASAP for a bombing attack on Tokyo and other spots in Japan. Admiral Ernest King, who was the only navy admiral who was a registered pilot, knew that no navy plane had the capacity to fly from a carrier to Japan. Knowing that flying from a site in Russia was impossible for political reasons (the Soviet Union refused to get involved in a war with Japan until Germany had been defeated), and realizing that it would take too long to somehow get bombers to China to prepare for an attack, King is the one who decided that the only feasible platform was a carrier attack. He asked General Hap Arnold if any army bombers had the ability to take off from a carrier and then fly the required distance to attack Japan and then land in China. Arnold turned the question over to his subordinate Col. Jimmy Doolittle, the most famous speed racer and stunt pilot in the world at the time, who said that the only plane capable of the mission was the B-25. Doolittle then famously insisted that he would both train and lead the planes in the mission. They asked for volunteers from the army bombardment group that had been flying B-25s the longest, and from those volunteers Doolittle picked Lt. Dick Cole to be his copilot. A limited variation of this plane is available with a signature plate.I opted for the version with the signature because Lt. Cole (later Col. Cole) is the last surviving member of of the Doolittle Raiders. The survivors have been meeting semi-annually since 1945, where using special cups with each person's name inscribed on one they all toast the members who have passed away during the previous two years, turning their cups upside down. At this point only only one cup is upright. I personally wanted that signature plate as a small tie to history. The Doolittle Raid might have been the most audacious of WW II. FDR understood all too well the impact that it would have on the morale of US citizens but also on how it would affect the Japanese. Indeed, the Japanese went into a panic and completely changed their war planes, which led to their rushing to attempt to destroy the last three American fleet carriers at the Battle of Midway. Instead, the US, having partially broken the Japanese code, laid a trap for the Japanese fleet and sunk four of their aircraft carriers, a loss from which they were never to recover. The Doolittle Raid literally changed the course of the war. That is why having such an excellent replica of the Doolittle B-25 (which is essentially a heavily revised B-25B) is important to me.If you collect Diecast replicas of WW II aircraft, I believe you will be delighted with this. The detailing is excellent and everything works. The wheels roll and the props rotate. The rear turret spins around and the guns move up and down. The only thing that doesn't "work" is the landing gear. The plane can rest easily on the wheels, but they cannot retract. But that is a minor thing. All in all, this is an outstanding replica.