I just wanted to thank Bill Rambow and all at MAAM for the great job they do in providing us simmers with a piece of history. Especially thank you for the update to the "Briefing Time" My uncle flew one of those babies in the WWII and It's kind of neat I can fly it too!Thanks again.

On Behalf of Jan, Fred, Rob, Howard, Mark and me, thanks for the kind words and for supporting the museum.For all you Mitchell lovers, you should make plans to attend the YAF's "Thunder Over Michigan" show this year in July. "Briefing Time' will be there, as usual, but the really exciting news is that so will 17 other B-25s! They are calling it "Mitchell Madness". If you do come, be sure to stop by the MAAM PX Tent and say hello, becuase I'm flying as crew on BT (try not to hate me) and during the mass formations on Saturday and Sunday I'll be shooting video and stills from her nose. Russ will be leading the second box in the formation, so we'll have B-25s all around us. It should be spectacular, not to mention deafening! As we all taxi, you will be able to recognize BT with your eyes closed, since we will be the only ship there restored with the original, wartime J-stack exhausts. All the others have the post-war mod collector rings to cut down on noise. We'll also be the heaviest, since we have full armament, armor, and real bombs in the bay!So come see the best-restored Mitchell at the show and if you share your ground video of the flight with me, I'll share my air shots with you.Bill RambowMAAM-SIM http://www.fssupport.com/maam/hgrsm_blkani.gif

I know I've said this here before, but I'll second that motion about the quality of MAAM-Sim. I've been flying in real life since 1984 and simulators since 1979 and I've encountered no other flight sim group that I've paid money to that has come close to the quality of your product or support. Your's are also the only airplanes in FS9 that I've never been tempted to tweak or improve on; all the others have had small errors in accuracy, fidelity, and/or attention to details. I've gotta hear the J-stacks on Briefing Time in real life, when is Thunder Over Michigan?

Thanks Ken. You have always been a great supporter.T.O.M. is July 7 and 8th. 7-7-07 will be the 5th Anniversary of MAAM-SIM, btw.Here is the aircraft list for the showhttp://www.yankeeairmuseum.org/airshow/aircraft.htm Sadly, 'Barbie III', the only flying H model in the world, has dropped out. We are down to a mere 17 B-25s. ;-) Looks like we'll have a fighter escort, too, since there will be five Mustangs and five Thunderbolts in attendance.Bill RambowMAAM-SIM http://www.fssupport.com/maam/hgrsm_blkani.gif

Thanks for that info Bill. I havn't been to an Old Warbird airshow since Geneseo. I think I may take a drive out to Michigan. BTW: The last time I saw B-25 "Miss Hap" (Three years ago?) I think she had the Short Stacks. Those are the ones that make the popping and banging noise at idle, right? Regards: SPOFF

Hi Spoff,Not as of August, 2005, she didn't. Crikey, she doesn't even have a top turret! Look her up on Airliners.net and you'll see what I mean.Don't be fooled by the fact that all B-25Js with the post-war mod still have the J-stacks on the bottom of the engine. It's the large collector port that combines the top bank of cylinders that is the giveaway of an incomplete restoration. Check this out: http://www.maam.org/airshow/b25_engines.htmBill RambowMAAM-SIM http://www.fssupport.com/maam/hgrsm_blkani.gif

Yep, you're right, although I thought differently until I looked it up. According to the history section of an Aviation Publications reprinted B-25C pilot's manual I have, in 1950 North American started what they called their "Executive Transport" project, to take advantage of the corporate market where private companies were already modifying the B-25 for passenger use. Part of this project was installing the upper cylinder exhaust collectors, mainly to help quiet the engines. Am I correct in assuming this is the earliest use of the exhaust collectors?According to this, the prototype had an inflight break-up while passing thru a cold front over Chandler, AZ, and killed the test crew; North American then decided to scrap the project. My dad once worked for a company in Houston, TX, in the early 1960's that operated a B-25J privately modified to executive standards as their corporate plane. One day he met the flight after they had flown through a fast-moving cold front between Florida and Texas. His friends were riding on the bench seat installed in the bomb bay and during one downdraft, they told him that they found the 150 pound adding machine that they brought with them floating a foot about the seat.

Minor note about the sound of the B-25. I've found that the Lycoming AIO-320 engine in the Bellanca 8KCAB I'm flying has the same low RPM exhaust pop that your B-25 has. It's not as noticable because the stacks are a lot further away from the cockpit than the B-25's.

Other than our "Briefing Time' the flying B-25's I know of that do have the complete set of J-stacks are:Weary Warriors Squadron's B-25H, "Barbie III"Fantasy of Flight's B-25J "Apache Princess"Cavanaugh Flight Museum's "How Boot That!?"That's the "Loud Crowd", and "BT" is the only one of the quartet scheduled to come to Thunder Over Michigan. I see our fighter escort is growing, though. We are up to five each Mustangs and Thunderbolts, a Corsair and a Warhawk. Wow!Edit: Found another! "Axis Nightmare" of the TriState Air Museum will be at T.O.M.Bill RambowMAAM-SIMhttp://www.fssupport.com/maam/hgrsm_blkani.gif