By Mitchell to Mt. Comfort

Air Classics, Jan 2003 by O'Leary, Michael

WHAT BETTER WAY TO A 7TEND THE GATHERING Of CORSAIRS AND LEGENDS IN INDIANA THAN IN NORTH AMERICAN B-25?

BY MICHAEL O'LEARY

PHOTOGRAPHY BY MICHAEL O'LEARY

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY SCOTT GERMAIN

About 18 months ago, I began having conversation with a certain individual by the name of Mint Moore III. Well, Mint had an idea -- he wanted to create a fly-in that would gather all airworthy examples of the famed Vought/Goodyear Corsair. Added to this, Mint wanted to bring together Corsair pilots, aces, crewmen, and factory workers for a celebration of one of the world's most famous combat aircraft.

No small undertaking, one might think. During the following months, when I spoke to Mint, the event was slowly coming together. Trying to put a bunch of vintage aircraft and a bunch of people together at one point in time is an ordeal at best. Mint and wife Michelle slowly kept chipping away and as time went by the "Gathering of Corsairs and Legends" started to become a reality. Mike Schneider created an excellent website that kept everyone updated on what aircraft and personalities would be attending. The famed Blacksheep of VMF-214 decided to have their reunion at the Gathering and other squadrons and groups also decided to follow in their footsteps.

The Gathering of Corsairs and Legends was incorporated into the Indianapolis Airshow held at rural Mt. Comfort. In years past, the Indianapolis event was more of an enjoyable grassroots show but the Gathering would change that perspective. We at Challenge Publications decided to help out by sponsoring advertising for the Gathering in our various publications and as the event, scheduled for 7-8 September, began to draw closer it was most interesting to see more and more Corsair Warbird pilots scheduled to bring their aircraft.

We began to put our collective heads together to figure out how to attended the Gathering which was the weekend immediately before the start of the Reno Air Races (see last month's issue). What better way to attend the Gathering than in a Warbird? Aero Trader's Tony Ritzman and Carl Scholl both wanted to attend the Gathering and we began plans for taking B-25J Pacific Princess on the long mission to the heart of the midwest.

Once again, this required considerable planning and funds since it is no easy task getting a hungry twin-engine Warbird such a long distance. Weather and maintenance are always items to worry about. Thunderstorms are not uncommon during September and in a B-25 you don't want to fly under, through, or over (even if the aircraft had the performance and necessary equipment to fly that high!) thunderstorms. As far as maintenance, Aero Trader specializes in Mitchell restorations and maintenance so Pacific Princess is probably one the most "turn the key and go" B-25s in the country.

The morning of 3 September found us on the Aero Trader ramp, loading luggage, cameras, supplies, and parts into the fuselage of Princess. The crew for the Gathering mission would consist of myself, Carl, Tony, George Hulett, and Larry Scarpa. We all had flown numerous missions together (including the historic Doolittle Mitchell flight at Fresno in 2000) and were looking forward to a few days on the road. Mint wanted the B-25 to arrive on the evening of the 4th - we could have made the flight in one very long day if wheels were up at sunrise but Tony pointed out that the schedule would go out of the window if weather interfered and that we should start out the day before. He was right.

After topping the tanks with a thousand gallons of 100LL - this is the part where such an undertaking begins to get expensive - we pulled the props through, strapped in, and started up the R-2600s. Before Long, we lifted off from Chino at 1:05 pm local and the Mitchell's nose pointed east on the start of a long mission.

Tony had planned for the first stop to be at Tucumcari, New Mexico, where we would refuel and spend the night. This would give us a good shot at getting to Mt. Comfort by Wednesday evening without making a really hard push. At 1:30 pm, Princess passed over Palm Springs at 9500-ft and 170-kt with a fuel consumption of .70 gallons per mile. The air was relatively smooth as we droned over the vast expanse of desert and it looked like we would be good for making Tucumcari. However, it was not to be.

The terrain began to change fairly dramatically as we headed into the northern portion of Arizona. So did the weather. A huge band of afternoon thunderstorms began to appear before us, blanketing the increasingly high terrain. In the cockpit, hands began unfolding maps as we tried to figure out a landing spot.

The area we were over was really remote and the only nearby field was at St. Johns which was some distance back. As we arrived near the airport, which is over a mile high at 5736-ft, the sky was getting dark with storm clouds. We touched down, rolled out, and headed to the parking area where we were met by Gary Liston, manager of St. Johns Airpark, and quite a few local residents from the small town who had seen and heard the Mitchell on final. The field is very Warbird-friendly and also had the cheapest fuel of the whole trip - $1.67. Gary loaned us an ex-Highway Patrol cruiser that is used as an airport car and we were soon headed to the local motel.