B-25 Mitchell aircraft in Catch-22 (film)

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When Catch-22 began preliminary production, Paramount made a decision to hire the Tallmantz Aviation organization to obtain sufficient B-25 Mitchell bomber aircraft to recreate a Mediterranean wartime base as depicted in the Joseph Heller novel of the same name. Tallmantz president, Frank G. Tallman ended up finding war-surplus aircraft, and eventually gathered not only pilots to fly the aircraft but also a ground support crew to maintain the fleet. [1]

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[edit] Aircraft

The Catch-22's budget could only accommodate 17 flyable B-25 Mitchells, and an additional non-flyable hulk was acquired in Mexico, made barely ferry-able and flown with landing gear down to the Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico filming location, only to be burned and destroyed in the landing crash scene. The wreck was then buried in the ground next to the runway, where it remains to this day.

Paramount planned to film the Catch-22 aerial sequences for six weeks but the production required three months to shoot and the bombers flew a total of about 1,500 hours. They would appear on screen for 12 minutes.

Fifteen of the 18 bombers used in the film still remain intact, including one on display at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum.[2]

  • 6A B-25H-1NA 43-4513 (N1203), Olive Drab B-25C, Unknown - Camera ship
  • 6B B-25J-30NC 44-86843 (N3507G), " Passionette Paulette 03507G ", Olive Drab B-25J, Grisson AFB, Indiana (D)
  • 6C B-25J-25NC 44-29939 (N9456Z), (girl on bomb) 09456Z ", Camouflage B-25J Mid-Atlantic Air Museum, Reading, PA (A)
  • 6D B-25J-30NC 44-31032 (N3174G), " Free, Fast and Ready 13174G ", Olive Drab B-25J March AFB, CA (D)
  • 6G B-25J-5NC 43-28204 (N9856C), " Booby Trap 39856C ", Olive Drab B-25J, Aero Traders, Chino, CA (A)
  • 6H B-25J-25NC 44-30748 (N8195H), " Miss Renee 38195H ", Camouflage B-25J,, Milan S. Pupich, Van Nuy, CA (A)
  • 6J B-25J-30NC 44-86701 (N7681C), " Annzas " - 25 missions, Camouflage B-25J, Musee de l'Air, Paris - Destroyed Hanger Fire
  • 6N B-25H-1NA 43-4432 (N10V), " Berlin Express 410V ", Camouflage B-25J, EAA museum, Oshkosh, WI (D)
  • 6Q B-25J-25NC 44-30077 (N2849G), " The Denver Dumper ", Olive Drab B-25J, Pacific Aviation Museum, Honolulu, HI (D)
  • 6S B-25J-35NC 44-8843 (XB-HEY), Camouflage B-25C Destroyed
  • 6V B-25J-25NC 44-30493 (N9451Z), " Dumbo 39451Z ", Olive Drab B-25C, Malmstrom AFB CA (D)
  • 6W B-25J-25NC 44-30649 (N9452Z), " Hot Pants 32452Z ", B-25C, Maxwell AFB (D)
  • 6Y B-25J-20NC 44-29887 (N10564), " Luscious Lulu " 19 missions,Olive Drab, NASM, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, VI (D)
  • 6? B-25J-25NC 44-30823 (N1042B), (nude on bomb) Olive Drab - Camera ship Jim Terry, Fort Worth, TX (A)


All the B-25s had the tip of the vertical stabilizer painted blue.

For the film, mock upper turrets were installed. To represent different models several aircraft had the turrets installed behind the wings representing early (B-25C/D type) aircraft. Initially, the camera ships also had the mock turrets installed, but problems with buffeting required their removal.

[edit] References

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Farmer 1972, p. 22.
  2. ^ North American B-25J-20NC (TB-25N) Mitchell Carol Jean

[edit] Bibliography

  • Dolan Edward F. Jr. Hollywood Goes to War. London: Bison Books, 1985. ISBN 0-86124-229-7.
  • Farmer, James H. "The Catch-22 Air Force." Air Classics, Volume 8, No. 14, December 1972.
  • Harwick, Jack and Schnepf, Ed. "A Viewer's Guide to Aviation Movies". The Making of the Great Aviation Films, General Aviation Series, Volume 2, 1989.
  • Oriss, Bruce. When Hollywood Ruled the Skies: The Aviation Film Classics of World War II. Hawthorne, California: Aero Associates Inc., 1984. ISBN 0-9613088-0-X.

[edit] External links