B-25 loses wing in blizzard

roncachamp

Final Approach
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De Pere, WI
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Display name:
Steven P McNicoll
The North American B-25 Mitchell that has served as gate guardian at Mitchell Field for over fifty years.B-25 Mitchell damaged.jpg
 
Wow, how unfortunate. The B-25 is a classic aircraft. One would wonder if the main spar went from fatigue or corrosion/fatigue?
 
Wow, how unfortunate. The B-25 is a classic aircraft. One would wonder if the main spar went from fatigue or corrosion/fatigue?

May not have even been the original wing spar. In many cases, "gate guards" have been cut before, simply to move them to where they're at.
 
May not have even been the original wing spar. In many cases, "gate guards" have been cut before, simply to move them to where they're at.

My guess.

Looks like a clean line where it broke.

Being a gate guard, nothing some angle iron and sheet metal can't fix
 
Glad the wing didn’t sail off in the breeze for parts unknown.

Must have exceeded maneuvering speed for the mod.

Cheers
 
Few people know that was a rare B-25. The wings fold down and become legs, and you walk it to the runway.
 
Intergranular corrosion is a common problem in B-25 wing attach flanges. It ha grounded many good birds, including the one I used to be copilot on. I can only image how badly corroded this one was being exposed to the elements daily.
 
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