"Executive Sweet"
- B-25J Mitchell
Executive
Sweet will be available for rides during the air
show!
For only $425 per person (up to 6 persons at a time) you can fly
for 30 minutes in a vintage WWII
Bomber! Don't miss this extraordinary
opportunity!!!
Millions of aviation
fans have seen this popular 64 year old Warbird perform.
Built in Kansas City in 1944 -45 as a B-25J, Executive
Sweet saw extensive Stateside service throughout the war
as a crew trainer. In 1952, it was demilitarized and
converted into a USAF B-25N trainer by Hayes Aircraft,
Inc. After several more years in military service at the
School of Aviation Medicine at Randolph Field, Texas,
the Mitchell was sold as surplus ad became a crop
sprayer. Acquired by Hollywood's Filmways Studios in
1968, the B-25 became the lead "on camera" aircraft
named Vestal Virgin in the film Catch-22. Placed for
sale after completion of filming in 1970, it was
purchased by Ed Schnepf (Thank you Ed!!) in 1972 to
begin a two-year restorative program back to its wartime
J model appearance.
Looking factory - new in its bare metal finish,
Executive Sweet once again was armed with thirteen .50
caliber machine guns, a Norden bombight and operable
bomb bay, authentic insignia and interior detailing down
to crash axes and crew intercom.
In 1984, Schnepf's Challenge Publications donated the
B-25 to the newly formed American Aeronautical
Foundation Museum at Camarillo, California, who has been
operating it ever since. Executive Sweet has appeared in
a dozen major films and numerous TV shows and
commercials. In April 1992, the plane participated in
the Doolitle Raid 50th Anniversary reenactment staged at
North Island NAS.
Executive Sweet set the pace that soon saw hundreds of
other warbirds fully restored to their original wartime
pristine condition. As it begins its 36th year of
appearances, Executive Sweet enters the season with a
great new look (see our new nose art), and multiple
shows already scheduled. The pilots and air crew
volunteers of the AAF Museum look forward to another
season of keeping alive the aviation heritage that
millions come to share each year.
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