Those of you interested in the historical aspects of the B-25 will find Don Kaiser's site of great interest. It includes an extensive overview of the 489th Bomb Squadron in which both his father and "Briefing Time" flew.[http://sbl.salk.edu/~dkaiser/page.html]

Right! Owners of the B-25 'Briefing Time' Multi-Media CD will find other shots like this among those from the 489th Squadron Yearbook included among its vintage documents.An interesting historical fact about 'BT'; She was the third squadron aircraft carrying the tail code 9D. The first was destroyed in the night German bombing raid on Alesani Airfield, Corsica, on March 13, 1944. Less than two months later, her replacement ship was destroyed at Pompeii by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, along with all 87 other B-25's of her group. 'Briefing Time', the third 9D plane, and the only one that bore the name and nose art, survived the war and carries the combined sortie record on its nose for all three planes. Perhaps it was our pretty blonde who gave her the required luck to make it to VE day. :-)BTW, there are included 'BT' flights in the Flights menu that put her back at both of these locations, though in more peaceful times and circumstances.Don's site has some fascinating information and photos of BT and her outfit, and there are a wealth of links to other sites, as well.My own father-in-law, Jerry Russell, a member of an Army railroad battalion in North Africa and Italy, witnessed the spectacular Vesuvius eruption from Naples - a bit too close for comfort! It caused a lot more damage than the Germans did to the USAAF in the bombing raid.Bill Rambow MAAM-SIM - Rambow, Visser, Banting, and Younghttp://www.fssupport.com/maam_sim/maamsim_logo.gif

Hello,I just wanted to respond to the last message regarding the 489th BS and 9D. While my research is by no means complete or confirmed, I do think there were at least four different 9Ds. The first 9D (serial# 42-53479) was lost at sea on 9-9-43 after 40 missions. The second 9D (serial# 42-32447), Stardust (for a picture please see http://sbl.salk.edu/~dkaiser/Vesuvius.html and scroll down to the bottom of the page), was destroyed at Pompeii on 3-22-44 by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius after 78 missions. The third 9D (serial# 43-32504) was damaged during the German air raid at Alesan Air Field, Corsica on 5-13-44 after 23 missions and sent back to the States. The fourth and final 9D (serial# 43-27638), Briefing Time, flew 126 missions from Alesani, Corsica and Rimini, Italy until the end of the war. This last 9D was the plane in which my father, radio-gunner Quentin C. Kaiser, flew 2 missions to bomb bridges on 11-11-44 at Citadella and on 12-14-44 at Chivasso, Italy. This is the same plane that the B-25J at MAAM is made-up to look like. I have alot of information regarding this plane if anyone is interested. *Cheers*DonPS Nearly the entire inventory (88 planes) of the 340th Bombardment Group was damaged by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius on March 22, 1944. Soon the group was equipped with all new J-models, many of which were destroyed in the German air raid at Alesani, Corsica on May 13, 1944. After that, surprisingly few aircraft were lost in either accidents or combat for the rest of the war.

Hi Don,Thanks very much for stopping by. I really have enjoyed your site in the course of this project. Great work. :-)As for a fourth 9D, that's fascinating. I know that Russ Strine is only aware of three, so this will no doubt be of interest to him, as well. Sounds like we need to update the spiel we give the visitors about BT!While writing this, Russ called and he would be very interested in any further information on all the 9D birds.Bill Rambow MAAM-SIM - Rambow, Visser, Banting, and Younghttp://www.fssupport.com/maam_sim/maamsim_logo.gif

Hi Bill,I'm not sure what you are interested in but I will try and make you a report on the 9Ds. I think most of what I have data on regards the last 9D "Briefing Time" and most of this is about it's crew chief Moore. I'm pretty sure you guys already know all this stuff but I will try and summarize what I have if you are really interested. My dad had a very enjoyable visit to MAAM a couple of years ago and really loved seeing the B-25 there made up to look just like the plane he flew 2 missions in. Do you guys happen to have a list of all 126 missions that the real "Briefing Time" flew?I am curious, what is all this simulation stuff anyway and what is it people are ordering and playing with here?*Cheers*Don

Hi Don,Anything you have about Briefing Time and the earlier 9D's would be of interest. Do you know what became of Joe Moore after the war? There seems to be a mystery surrounding that.I take it you are not familiar with Microsoft Flight Simulator? Our Briefing Time is an add-on aircraft package for this program. We sell it, and other MAAM add-on aircraft packages, to make money for the museum that is used to restore and maintain our aircraft collection. Take a look at the review of our BT here: http://www.avsim.com/pages/0203/briefing_t...efing_time.htmlYou also might want to take a look at some of the screenshots some of the guys have posted on this forum to see what she looks like. I especially recommend those posted by elcamino on page 2 (several posts) and by my team mate, Jan Visser (Javis), on page 6.In appreciation for the help and enjoyment your site has afforded me, and in honor of your Dad, I'll be happy to send you the 2-CD set if you would like to drop me an e-mail with your mailing address. You would have to buy the base program, MS Flight Simulator 2002, but then you and your Dad can fly a replica of Briefing Time on your PC. I think you'll enjoy it. The second CD is a multi-media disc on the B-25 and includes videos, vintage manuals, and 500 photos, as well as an original history of the type. You don't need the MSFS program for that one.BTW, my Dad was a ground crew member on Mitchells in the Pacific.Bill Rambow MAAM-SIM - Rambow, Visser, Banting, and Younghttp://www.fssupport.com/maam_sim/maamsim_logo.gif

Hi Bill,I completely forgot to mention your father. Where was your dad stationed and what air force, bomb wing, bomb group and squadron was he associated with? I know very little about the Mitchell's in the Pacific other than the fact that they did a lot of low-level strafing missions and dropped bombs with parachutes to allow them time to get away from the explosions.Don

Hi Don,I'll shoot those CD's off to you tomorrow. I was just this night looking over a website about my Dad's outfit, the 2d Sqdn, 22d Bomb Group, 5th USAAF. The 22d was known as the "Red Raiders" and after wading through all the websites concerning the Texas Tech football team I found this one: http://www.redraiders22bg.comI invite you to read the excerpt from Martin Caiden's "Ragged, Rugged Warriors" on the front page. Dad was one of those ground crewmen about whom Caiden wrote, though I would never have known the hell he went through from what he told me as I was growing up. Like so many of that heroic generation, he did his job and then got on with life and put it behind him after VJ day. He was a Norden bombsight and powerplant mechanic and the squadron went from B-26 Marauders, to Mitchells, and finally finished the war with Liberators. Dad was with them from before Pearl Harbor to after VJ Day in Townesville, Port Moresby, the Philippines, and finally Okinawa.I look forward to reading what you come up with about BT and the crew.Bill Rambow MAAM-SIM - Rambow, Visser, Banting, and Younghttp://www.fssupport.com/maam_sim/maamsim_logo.gif

Hi Bill,Many thanks for sending those cds and for the info regarding your dad's outfit. I know from the 57th Bomb Wing Newslist that the ground crews were tremendously appreciated and respected by all the veterans for their important work in maintaining, repairing and testing the planes, keeping them flying nearly everyday. Many planes in my dad's squadron had well over 100 missions from around May of 1944 'til the end of the war about a year later. So, do the math and it's absolutely amazing these planes, with normal wear and tear not to mention frequent flak damage, were so well maintained. You may be interested in reading about the Engineering Sections of my dad's 489th Bomb Squadron Book which has info and pictures of the ground crews of the 489th squadron.http://sbl.salk.edu/~dkaiser/engineering1.htmlTry /engineering2.html and more. I forget how many pages there are. Yu may be interested in the entire squadron book chapters which can be accessed here:http://sbl.salk.edu/~dkaiser/squadbook.htmlJust scroll down to the bottom of the page to see the links to all the different chapters of the book.Now I have to go read about the Red Raiders!Thanks again,Don

Hi Bill,I'm very happy that you have enjoyed my web site which started out as a simple tribute to my father with some of his photos from WWII but has now evolved into a prettyy detailed history of not only the 489th Bombardment Squadron, but the 340th Bombardment Group, the 57th Bomb Wing, and practically the entire 12th Air Force in the MTO. I must say, I am extremely grateful to you for offering the cds and I'd like to take you up on your offer. Please send them to me at the following address:Don KaiserRoom 5162Hanein LabBurnham Institute10901 North Torrey Pines RoadLa Jolla, CA 92037Who knows, you might even get me flying Briefing Time one of these days? Best regards,Don KaiserPS I am still trying to get all the Joe Moore/ Briefing Time stuff together for you. One thing I do know is that Joe Moore's good friend and companion on at least one very happy birthday celebration- furlow trip to Italy, Billy K. Walker, was killed at Alesani during the German air raid of May 13, 1944. You may have seen this info with pictures on my site already but if not, it can be found here:http://sbl.salk.edu/~dkaiser/page2.html

Hi Bill,Thanks a million for the cds. I received them in the mail today. Laurel brings back some good memories of Route 1. I used to live in Baltimore. I sometimes visit the National Archives (NARA)in College Park for my research. The cds look really professional. I am enjoying the photos of the B-25 at MAAM now. Thanks again!*Cheers*Don Kaiserhttp://sbl.salk.edu/~dkaiser/planes19.html

Hi Don,Glad they got there OK. You're very welcome. Take a look at the videos of our BT flying in Flight Sim. I think you'll be impressed. You can download them from the AVSIM library. These "Sim Movies" were done for us by J