N3476G —

Although the Collings warbird aircraft (a P-51 Mustang, a B-17, a B-24 Liberator, and this Mitchell) make annual visits to the northern Nevada area, for the past few years they have operated out of KRTS (Reno Stead) and KMEV so having them taking off and landing at Reno's primary airport this year provided opportunities for photos from a wide variety of locations around KRNO. The four aircraft leave RNO tomorrow for the short flight to KMEV.

Gary, what do the 130 669 numbers represent on the tail?

Hi, Mark.
I don't know. There were two US bombers named "Tondelayo," a B-17G (43-37516) that was shot down by friendly fire near Essex, UK, on Mar 4, 1945; and the B-25D that this one is painted in honor of. For info about the original B-25D named "Tondelayo" (41-30669), click on the link below.
.....
http://www.pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/b-25/41-30669.html
......
I could not make a specific "connection" of the numbers on the tail of this Collings aircraft to the original B-25D "Tondelayo." The name "Tondelayo" was the name of a character played by Hedy Lamarr in the movie "White Cargo." Presumably, that's Ms. Lamarr on the nose. If you click on the link, there are photos showing the same design on the original B-25D. However, there are no pictures of the tail.
..... And a PS >> Prior to being repainted as "Tondelayo," the Collings Mitchell above was painted as "Hoosier Honey." Also, this Collings B-25 never saw wartime action.

Gary, that's another "5" star photo!!!

Mark... those numbers you have inquired about on the tail are no doubt the USAAF "tail numbers" which were adapted from the USAAF s/n of 41-30669... becoming "130669". As Gary points out, there are no photos of the tail, so perhaps the painting of those numbers is an educated guess as to what might have been on the real "Tondelayo" B-25D.

Now, let me be clear on this - Gary knows that part and I'm not trying to contradict anything he's said here... but just add my observations regarding the best part as follows...

Aside from this aircraft marking that's purely a simulation and reminiscent of the original "Tondelayo" B-25D, there is a typical USAAF identification data panel stencil painted onto the port side that contains the "real" authentic USAAF s/n 44-28932 of this specific B-25J.

Are you confused yet?

Very nice job on this one too Gary! Another five star shot

Thanks guys!

Fantastic shot, Gary!

Nice job, Gary!

Gary, Thank you for a wonderful photo.

Cliff, Mark S. and Mark T., Dwight, Greg, and Kurt >> A Howdy and a Thanks to each of you. Kurt, you're quite welcome. It was a different angle and I liked both shots so I picked one to post here and the other to send to friends. Glad you liked it. :-)

Ah, nice one Gman! I have this one at KMRY - when a female Pilot did her 1st flight ever in this Warbird at Monterey mid 2000s. 5 Aliens on this one!! I may have video on my Youtube page.

Thnx, Alien. I'll check for that You Tube vid of yours. And another brief segment of my old 8mm movies just went up on You Tube. Only a minute or so long. Taken at KBOS. Chris eliminated the "yellowish" tint that resulted from a half-century of fading, added sound to it, and posted it. Contains a glimpse of a Northeast Yellowbird. There's also a distant shot of an Eastern Connie taking off and the sound Chris added (an actual Constellation taking off) makes it a neat few seconds of viewing. He's got one more short segment from my old reel to work on and post, and then he's going to send all seven You Tube segments to me (complete with all the sounds he's added).

Gary, could you give me a link to that YouTube video you mentioned?

beautiful photo , Gary -

Dwight, it's easier if you just enter GARY SCHENAUER YOU TUBE into Google. All six segments will pop up immediately. The newest one (at KBOS) was just posted two days ago. Very, very brief, but it shows a Northeast propliner in the old NE livery and Northeast jets (a DC-9 and a 727) in the Yellowbird paint scheme, an Air Canada Viscount taking off, EAL and Allegheny aircraft, and a couple other rare old views. And if you have an additional minute, click on the other segments. I took them all in the 60s, so they are all old with some rather rare aircraft / airline scenes in them. There is one more coming out; it will show Air Force One at JFK in the 60s and also a view of the TWA terminal at JFK when it was brand new and everyone was dazzled by its radically "modern" (at the time) design. Also, Dwight, look for my comment under your photo of that C-37B you posted. US government a/c don't have "N" in their reg numbers.

We would like to know the whereabouts of the B-25 that used to sit out at Fox Field. Thanks!

Bob Westover
Tehachapi, CA

North American B-25C Mitchell 41-13251 was, until last year, owned by the Milestones Of Flight Museum (Lancaster, CA) and had been sitting without wings at the museum. Last year, it was purchased by San Simeon Air LLC (765 Market St, San Francisco) and its civilian registration number (N3968C) was renewed effective last year and valid thru 2018. N3968C has been evaluated and despite some corrosion the evaluation concluded that it could be restored to airworthiness. The former 41-13251 is currently being restored, but I have not been able to determine exactly where that restoration is taking place. Info source link is ...
http://b-25history.org/aircraft/4113251.htm
You're welcome.

very nice shot !

Simply beautiful Gary...Thanks again.