FP_2015_05_

F

or more than a decade Fagen

Fighters WWII Museum in

Granite Falls, Minnesota, has

been bringing award-winning World

War Two fighters to life and sharing

its passion for honouring veterans.

Arriving just prior to the annual

EAA AirVenture extravaganza

at Oshkosh last year, its newest

addition – North American B-25J

Mitchell Paper Doll – signals

an expansion of that vision.

Completed for the United States

Army Air Force (USAAF) as

44-86698, Paper Doll has been

returned to an authentic olive drab

and neutral grey paint scheme

featuring ‘pin-up girl’ nose-art.

The aircraft has joined the US

civil register as N325N and will

dominate the museum’s newest

hangar, built to house it along with

an ever expanding collection.

The twin-engined bomber rolled

out of North American Aviation’s

Fairfax factory in Kansas City

in early 1945. The USAAF took

delivery of the Wright R-2600-

powered aircraft on June 15 that

year but it almost immediately

entered storage in Independence,

Missouri. It then moved to Pyote,

Texas, in September 1947 where it

languished for some time.

Many aircraft that went straight

from the factory to long-term storage

eventually faced the scrapman’s axe,

but Paper Doll was granted a reprieve

along with Mitchell 44-86697, her

immediate predecessor off the line.

Both were moved to Brookley Air

Depot, Alabama, in October 1951

where they were overhauled and

converted into TB-25J trainers for

the US Air Force.

On completion in December1951,

both aircraft were instead

transferred to the RCAF as part of

the Military Assistance Program,

Paper Doll receiving the Canadian

serial RCAF 5248. Operating

May 2015 FLYPAST 61

Above

North American B-25J

Mitchell 44-86698

‘Paper Doll’ fl ying

for an air-to-air

photography shoot.

60-64_Warbird_fpSBB.indd 61 17/03/2015 15:07