In the early 2000’s, a dad and his boys embarked on their vision of building the coolest treehouse in the neighborhood: a full scale replica of the nose of a WWII B-25 Mitchell bomber.  They started building, but the project never got much past halfway complete as a shell.  In 2014, EAA 43’s Young Aviators got together and decided to take on completing the project.  

Like many endeavors in aviation (when you marry the passion of aviation with the talents and dreams of mentors and youth) what started as a mission to finish a shell turned into a larger vision—a massive, realistic simulator that has been capturing attention all over the states.

It made its debut at Airventure / KidVenture in 2015 and has been a mainstay attraction there ever since.  

While not at Oshkosh AirVenture each July, the B-25 has been a highly sought-after unit in Colorado for parades, STEM and maker’s faire events, air shows, veterans showcases, school assemblies, and more. We learned it was not only a great display, but a tremendous teaching tool (aviation and general history both).  And, one of the more powerful messages it conveyed was the power of kids, who built this B-25 (with the oversight of a number of kid-like EAA Chapter 43 mentors).  All these efforts combined have proven instrumental to our chapter’s continued ability to raise funds for youth aviation-related scholarships.

The past two winters, the B-25 has been stored in the Vette Hangar at Pioneer Airport in Oshkosh, thus negating the need to transport it back and forth to Denver every year.  But, unfortunately, that means it sat silent in a hangar for 51 weeks out of the year with no one capitalizing on its educational capabilities.  

It needs a good home…

Current State:

The unit sits on a roadworthy 27’ trailer and is equipped with a full canvas covering making it very transportable, featuring a lowered and raised position for the fuselage.

In its lowered position, it is ready for parades and often used as a static display (climb in and around) for quick one-day appearances.

In its raised position with all the simulation monitors, computers, and sound hooked up, it is one heck of a simulator.  It is also useful as a static display (in its raised position without all the TVs and computers) where kids climb in through the belly just like the real B-25.  If you watch EAA’s current video about KidVenture (on the EAA.org website) the B-25 is featured fairly prominantly – it gives you a sense of its popularity the week of AirVenture.

It Now Needs a Home:

EAA Chapter 43 – Young Aviators would like to officially donate its B-25 (the unit itself, the trailer, all the related computers, TVs, support tools, etc.) to an organization committed to education and promotion of the B-25.  There could not be a more fitting final home for our cherished B-25 than the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum.