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B-25 Makes Stop at Elkhart Municipal Airport

The Yankee Air Museum offered B-25 rides to the public at the Elkhart Municipal Airport this weekend. The flight crew, made up of volunteer pilots, raise funds for the museum in Belleville from these flights.
 

Tickets to fly on the World War 2 era bomber, run 400 dollars for about a half hour flight. Volunteers involved say this may be the best way to fundraise for the air museum.
 

The plane, which weighs more than 10-tons, flew into Elkhart as part a wedding. The granddaughter of the crew captain Ezra Baer, who flew the plane during its active years, had the plane present during the wedding ceremony. Both she and her husband are on active duty in the Air Force.
 

Crew member Jerry Lester, who handles public relations for the aircraft, said it was meaningful to be able to connect the aircraft to the family of Baer.
 

The B-25 is a World War 2 veteran. Built in 1943 in by North American Aviation, the bomber flew missions to the Mediterranean during the second World War. The plane is capable of handling payloads of up to three thousand pounds, and is equipped with machine guns on the sides as well as the nose of the plane.
 

Crew member John Vandervan says the history of the plane is something that the crew stresses and thinks about often when they do flights.
 

“To be on this plane, it would be similar to getting on the plane that brought John F. Kennedy’s body back to Dayton,” Vandervan said.
 

The Yankee Air Museum is open year round and runs flights at various locations around the country.

http://yankeeairmuseum.org