My dad was a B-25 Crew Chief in Japan after WWII. He regaled me with his stories in the airplane. He told me he use to climb up in the pass through and go to sleep. Couldn't imagine with the noise of those engines, how anyone could sleep. Keep it flying!!
lol. damn crew chiefs. I worked kc135. I was either in the boom pod or the rear bunk that held the 550 mph fuselage together. Scream is not the word for it. I am tinnitus. 200F at your head and 60 below at your feet.. maine to england 4+ hours.
I've been waiting 45 years (since I was a kid) to see the view from a B-25 tailgunner blister. THANK YOU! Always thought that looked so cool back there. When you faded out at 14:21 after mentioning the Norden bombsight, I thought "dang, STILL classified?"
My uncle was a pilot in the so pacific flying the B-25. My favorite airplane. I wish he was alive to see this awesome video. His plane was name "Down and GO" I sat for hours looking at the pictures of him and all his crew posing for photo after their missions. They were amazing aviators. thanks for honoring all those men.
Thanks for the cool tour, I know its not for the claustrophobic, or wearing shorts, but the complexity is staggering, you're 21 years old, have to learn to fly not just a plane, but a warplanes, and a bomber at that. None of which considers you're going to face flak, nasty or permanent injury, death, crashing, bailing out for an unintended parachute ride, possible ground fighting, capture, POW camp, and that's just ONE mission! Everyone who flew in one of these at war deserves a medal. Thanks to those who preserved/restored it and the tour-guide!
It must have been very difficult to escape from a damaged B25- getting to that escape hatch from the rear turret. Claustrophobic too and i think the guys fighting in these aircraft were something special. Great video Kermit, thanks.
it look like there was an emergency release handle on the wall behind where the tail gunner sat so im guessing he could jettison the canopy in the event of a significant emotional event.
Pretty sure that the rear canopy doubled as an escape hatch. It could be difficult to reach an exit, but rarely that difficult. They wanted it possible to reach an exit within like ten seconds with the the aircraft in level flight. Under G it doesn't matter if it is two feet away, if you cannot move your body from the wall or floor or ceiling. That's why it really annoys me when wikipedia says things like "the B-24 was hated by its crews because it had only a single escape hatch in the rear fuselage". Not sure if someone found an incompetent author that made that claim, or if that was their own 'expert' analysis, but no. The B-24 does indeed only have one single-purpose hatch, but since the bomb doors, nose gear doors and windows all served as escape hatches, the idea that crew from the front were forced to crawl back through the bomb bay into the rear fuselage to escape is foolish.
I was working in the Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola while waiting for Navy flight school to start (and before quarantine...) and I had the privilege of walking past their B-25 everyday, and oh is it always fun to look at! Now I finally have a good picture of what the inside is like. Thanks Kermie!
I just did a hike on the B-25 wreckage that crashed in Utah in 1955. I videoed all the wreckage including the landing struts, engines, wings, empinage, and fuselage. I think a lot of it has been pilfered, but most of it is still there. After watching your video, I can tell which landing gear is which.
Kermit . As you say ,this HAS to be the most complete and accurate B-25 out there. You have to pinch yourself to realise this is 80 year old technology! I bet this baby could top 300+ if you removed all the armament! Thanks Kermit . Take care and stay safe.
I've read may stories, books, and accounts about the B-25. You brought them all home with your generous time and effort. I could never thank you enough.
Awesome video Kermie as a 52 year old no way iam getting in that plane and flying into combat! But as a 25 year old maybe that's why young people fight our wars!
I guess running a museum with fantastic planes is difficult and relies on feet through the door! and I guess its a private business. Over here in the UK we have Duxford aircraft museum which runs on public donations! Keep up the great work Kermit! We love you in the UK!
Talked to an old WWII B17 waist gunner and he said they would usually be ankle deep in spent round casings after a mission. Pretty crazy time. Thanks for the tour!
Puts into prospective what those young men, and they were mostly all young, had to adapt to on a daily basis. Survival from a stricken aircraft must have been slim to say the least. Can't wait to have a return visit to your flying museum.
We're getting older and a bit bigger and cannot get around as we once did. Thanks Kermit for clamoring around in there for the video. They packed a lot of stuff into that aircraft. This bird is like new or better than new condition and is a real beauty. I bet it flys better than it looks.
Thank you for sharing these very informative and interesting videos. Since I live in Portugal this is the only way to see the inside of these amazing warbirds.
Thanks for sharing that, Kermit. I hope you and your team have plans to return the Mitchell to the skies. My dad grew up in the forties and fifties, he used to climb around the inside of a B-25 that was abandoned at the Delaware, Ohio airport. Before the movie Catch 22, when they were mostly made airworthy and became popular on the warbird scene, it was not uncommon to see a dilapidated Mitchell, tall grass growing around it, sitting forlornly in the corner of some small airport. I've hear they're a nice flying airplane. Thanks for operating in this space.
Absolutely love the tours! I had no idea that the bombardier and tailgunner had to crawl through such tight confines to access their stations. These men had next to no chance of getting out alive if their plane was severely hit and they needed to bail out quickly. I felt the same thoughts about the B-24. Those crewmen displayed courage and confidence at a very high level....much respect!
I took a ride in Panchito but she wasn’t anywhere near as original as this B-25! Seriously cool to see things like original armor plates, radios, and all the turret hardware. Thanks for sharing and keeping it as original as it can be.
The shop teacher at my Junior High was a B-25 pilot in Europe -- Great guy -- He flew a lot of different planes well into his late 70's -- also cruised around on a motorcycle up until a couple of years before he died in his mid 80's
Thank you so much for this. My father was a flying photograper with the RAF (684 squadron I think) in the far east during the second world war. He rarely talked about that time, but he did mention long distance photo recon flights in B25s, no defensive armament (to save weight) and extra fuel tanks in the bomb bay to extend the range. The hours of uncomfortable, claustrophobic and noisy conditions endured by the crews of that generation are difficult for us to even imagine.
I believe the double needle, yellow and blue vertical needle (second from left at top) IS an early ILS indicator. I flew the B-25 in basic Air Force Pilot training in 1957, loved that airplane. I have the B-25 type rating on my ticket still, not current!
Ted Hart was a great friend of my dad. He was a realtor in Walla Walla, Washington, and shared great stories of flying in the Pacific. He DID NOT like the big cannon... said it made the Mitchel stop in mid air. So they took it out and mounted more .50 cals.
Thanks for the tour. My dad and his best friend flew 25's (I believe they were B-25 Mitchels) in the south Pacific during WWII. Saw lots of pix from the outside, but never got inside till now. Stay safe in FL. BTW my friend has a great rental home in Sedona, and we get back there every winter/Spring. Except this year of course.
Kermit, thanks for preserving such an excellent aircraft that had such a incredible history during World War II. The thing you asked about 14:08/30:35 is a 28V map light the crew would pull the knob like thing out and it would extend on a retractable cord a few feet away thus allowing them to use it as a flashlight.
Fantastic tour. I can't imagine being the bombardier and having four 50. caliber machine guns going off 1 ft from your head, not to mention the swivel 50. that he operated manually. Unreal.
Kermit, thanks for taking the time to video your beautiful B25. The restoration is beyond incredible in every aspect. Would love to see it in person someday at your facility.
I met General Doolittle in Valparaiso Fla, when a B25 was set up as a static display memorial to the Doolittle raid. This must have been 1963 or 64. This plane was the last one in USAF inventory. It is now at air armaments museum at EGLIN AFB. What a wonderful aircraft. Also knew Tom Sharp who worked at North American to install a French 75 MM cannon to the nose in the B 25.
Kermit, really appreciate you crawling around inside the aircraft. How your knees feeling? When I was in the Marine Corps we could hitch rides on aircraft (pilot permitting) when going on leave. I once had the pleasure of riding the jump seat behind the pilots (wearing a parachute of course). Below my feet was the open escape hatch I would have to drop through if we had to bail out. That flight was the high point of my hitchhiking career!
Great video as always on your lovely B25 Kermit - although from watching this one and also the previous Martin Mars "crawl-through" - I am having a re-occurring nightmare where he's in the hangar doing a tour of Fertile Myrtle (B29) and he gets his butt stuck in the bomb bay access tube and he's there alone all night and the only liquid refreshment is a bottle of Naked in Jamaica rum but "yikes" its just out of arms reach! What's Kermit going to go? Tune in for next weeks exciting episode of Kermit Weeks in - "Butt right outa luck - what a rum way to go". Keep 'em coming Kermit, love the videos.
Kermit, Love your videos. Have you ever looked into getting an Israel AF Beechcraft Bonanza? This early history of that model is not always known. My dad loved renting the V-tail's in the '70s and joked that it was a clandestine fighter in the late '40s. A retired USAF Col. , he knew aviation history. He also flew early deep SAR in Vietnam in a turbine HH-43 Huski or "Pedro". Those are rare today. I think manf. by Kamen. Laminated wood inter-meshing twin rotors.
Thanks again for a great video showing the internals of the B-25. Very narrow spaces to get to your working space. Not easy to get there fully geared up. 👍 for all your efforts.
Excellent vid , I was surprised you mentioned Javier Arango. I was Javier's Challenger 604 pilot. Unfortunately Javier is no longer with us , after the airplane accident he suffered. Thanks for the videos.
I had the opportunity to fly in the Yankee Warrior in Michigan and know what it's like to crawl thru under the pilot when in flight to set in that nose gunner area was the coolest thing I've done and set next to a ww2 pilot behind the pilot and co pilot when landing and he was pointing out the three green lights to me that the gear was down and we were safe to land
Kermit, you and your collection of aircraft are a national treasure. Kudos for your efforts to preserve these proud birds from our greatest era.
My dad was a B-25 Crew Chief in Japan after WWII. He regaled me with his stories in the airplane. He told me he use to climb up in the pass through and go to sleep. Couldn't imagine with the noise of those engines, how anyone could sleep. Keep it flying!!
lol. damn crew chiefs. I worked kc135. I was either in the boom pod or the rear bunk that held the 550 mph fuselage together. Scream is not the word for it. I am tinnitus. 200F at your head and 60 below at your feet.. maine to england 4+ hours.
I've been waiting 45 years (since I was a kid) to see the view from a B-25 tailgunner blister. THANK YOU! Always thought that looked so cool back there. When you faded out at 14:21 after mentioning the Norden bombsight, I thought "dang, STILL classified?"
My uncle was a pilot in the so pacific flying the B-25. My favorite airplane. I wish he was alive to see this awesome video. His plane was name "Down and GO" I sat for hours looking at the pictures of him and all his crew posing for photo after their missions. They were amazing aviators. thanks for honoring all those men.
Thanks for the cool tour, I know its not for the claustrophobic, or wearing shorts, but the complexity is staggering, you're 21 years old, have to learn to fly not just a plane, but a warplanes, and a bomber at that. None of which considers you're going to face flak, nasty or permanent injury, death, crashing, bailing out for an unintended parachute ride, possible ground fighting, capture, POW camp, and that's just ONE mission! Everyone who flew in one of these at war deserves a medal. Thanks to those who preserved/restored it and the tour-guide!
Hey Kermit I am about your age and I can appreciate how difficult crawling through that plane must be your efforts are appreciated!
War Wizard I think holding the camera in one hand made it difficult for Kermit! I agree the effort was really appreciated.
Alright, now I wanna fly one.
It must have been very difficult to escape from a damaged B25- getting to that escape hatch from the rear turret. Claustrophobic too and i think the guys fighting in these aircraft were something special. Great video Kermit, thanks.
it look like there was an emergency release handle on the wall behind where the tail gunner sat so im guessing he could jettison the canopy in the event of a significant emotional event.
@@thurin84 "We're out of NIJ Rum!"
Pretty sure that the rear canopy doubled as an escape hatch. It could be difficult to reach an exit, but rarely that difficult. They wanted it possible to reach an exit within like ten seconds with the the aircraft in level flight. Under G it doesn't matter if it is two feet away, if you cannot move your body from the wall or floor or ceiling. That's why it really annoys me when wikipedia says things like "the B-24 was hated by its crews because it had only a single escape hatch in the rear fuselage". Not sure if someone found an incompetent author that made that claim, or if that was their own 'expert' analysis, but no. The B-24 does indeed only have one single-purpose hatch, but since the bomb doors, nose gear doors and windows all served as escape hatches, the idea that crew from the front were forced to crawl back through the bomb bay into the rear fuselage to escape is foolish.
Kermit will e stuck
That was a very good tour. All the original stuff, no flaking paint and clean. Thank you.
I was working in the Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola while waiting for Navy flight school to start (and before quarantine...) and I had the privilege of walking past their B-25 everyday, and oh is it always fun to look at! Now I finally have a good picture of what the inside is like. Thanks Kermie!
I just did a hike on the B-25 wreckage that crashed in Utah in 1955. I videoed all the wreckage including the landing struts, engines, wings, empinage, and fuselage. I think a lot of it has been pilfered, but most of it is still there. After watching your video, I can tell which landing gear is which.
Kermit . As you say ,this HAS to be the most complete and accurate B-25 out there. You have to pinch yourself to realise this is 80 year old technology! I bet this baby could top 300+ if you removed all the armament! Thanks Kermit . Take care and stay safe.
One of my favourite twin engine allied planes of WW2, right behind the Beaufighter and Mozzie. Awesome stuff
Amazing how the country came together and pumped out those planes.
Doing the Kermie crawl on the Kermie cam thanks Kermit we appreciate the effort you put in to your videos they're always fun and informative.
"Kermie Crawl" LOL :)
I've read may stories, books, and accounts about the B-25. You brought them all home with your generous time and effort. I could never thank you enough.
I appreciate now how any bullet or piece of flak was bound to hit something important (assuming it missing the most important parts, the people).
Very awesome tour of your amazing B-25.. thanks for sharing !
Thanks Kermit...I always enjoy the Kermy Cam.
We appreciate the things that you do for us you-tubers. Nice tour Kermit.
Thank you again Kermit I did not realize that the B-25 was so confined.
Awesome video Kermie as a 52 year old no way iam getting in that plane and flying into combat! But as a 25 year old maybe that's why young people fight our wars!
I guess running a museum with fantastic planes is difficult and relies on feet through the door! and I guess its a private business. Over here in the UK we have Duxford aircraft museum which runs on public donations! Keep up the great work Kermit! We love you in the UK!
KERMIT, THANK YOU REALLY ENJOYED THE B-25 VIDEO.
SALTY👍🇺🇸
Talked to an old WWII B17 waist gunner and he said they would usually be ankle deep in spent round casings after a mission. Pretty crazy time. Thanks for the tour!
I love you videos, Kermit. They are for everyone who looks up when they hear an airplane.
Puts into prospective what those young men, and they were mostly all young, had to adapt to on a daily basis.
Survival from a stricken aircraft must have been slim to say the least.
Can't wait to have a return visit to your flying museum.
Victor Hodgson seems like it would be tough to escape for sure. Very tight quarters!
You got it brother
We're getting older and a bit bigger and cannot get around as we once did. Thanks Kermit for clamoring around in there for the video. They packed a lot of stuff into that aircraft. This bird is like new or better than new condition and is a real beauty. I bet it flys better than it looks.
Exploring it like a Christmas present I love his videos and his chatter he is always in pain ❤️xx👌👌
Thank you for sharing these very informative and interesting videos. Since I live in Portugal this is the only way to see the inside of these amazing warbirds.
That tour was really something for War Baby like me. Thankyou Kermie.
Thanks for sharing that, Kermit. I hope you and your team have plans to return the Mitchell to the skies. My dad grew up in the forties and fifties, he used to climb around the inside of a B-25 that was abandoned at the Delaware, Ohio airport. Before the movie Catch 22, when they were mostly made airworthy and became popular on the warbird scene, it was not uncommon to see a dilapidated Mitchell, tall grass growing around it, sitting forlornly in the corner of some small airport.
I've hear they're a nice flying airplane.
Thanks for operating in this space.
Wow ! What an intricate , beautiful restoration . No one with claustrophobia would be a tail gunner for sure . Very impressive , many thanks Kermit.
Absolutely love the tours! I had no idea that the bombardier and tailgunner had to crawl through such tight confines to access their stations. These men had next to no chance of getting out alive if their plane was severely hit and they needed to bail out quickly. I felt the same thoughts about the B-24. Those crewmen displayed courage and confidence at a very high level....much respect!
Thanks for going to all the trouble too show to all of us Kermit! Great to see the history.
Thanks for the tour...Imagine flying that with all the gun's firing!!! A 75mm in that crawl pace??? WOW !!! Pappy Gunn was NUTS !!!
The B-25 is definitely one of my favorites, thanks Kermit for sharing.
I took a ride in Panchito but she wasn’t anywhere near as original as this B-25! Seriously cool to see things like original armor plates, radios, and all the turret hardware. Thanks for sharing and keeping it as original as it can be.
thank you for squeezing through the a/c for us! flying them back in the day was definitely a young mans job. gives me all the more respect for them.
Nice work Kermit.......best of luck with the project.
The shop teacher at my Junior High was a B-25 pilot in Europe -- Great guy -- He flew a lot of different planes well into his late 70's -- also cruised around on a motorcycle up until a couple of years before he died in his mid 80's
Thank you for crawling through those narrow pass for us.
Fantastic tour! I just love the B-25. I can almost smell that old plane smell.
Best B-25 video tour ever. Thanks Kermit for making my mandatory covid lock down vacation less suicidal.....Love you man..........
A fine finish to an outstanding tour thanks again
Thank you for continuing to post these kickass videos! Always a great view.
Thank you so much for this. My father was a flying photograper with the RAF (684 squadron I think) in the far east during the second world war. He rarely talked about that time, but he did mention long distance photo recon flights in B25s, no defensive armament (to save weight) and extra fuel tanks in the bomb bay to extend the range. The hours of uncomfortable, claustrophobic and noisy conditions endured by the crews of that generation are difficult for us to even imagine.
The photo/recon job Mitchells were called F-10s. No guns, turrets or armor, and extra gas tanks in the bomb bay.
Kermit love everything you do. Had annual passes for years.
Thank you Sir for sharing your collection that was what I had been wishing for ever since I seen it when I came there. Thanks again.
I believe the double needle, yellow and blue vertical needle (second from left at top) IS an early ILS indicator. I flew the B-25 in basic Air Force Pilot training in 1957, loved that airplane. I have the B-25 type rating on my ticket still, not current!
Ted Hart was a great friend of my dad. He was a realtor in Walla Walla, Washington, and shared great stories of flying in the Pacific. He DID NOT like the big cannon... said it made the Mitchel stop in mid air. So they took it out and mounted more .50 cals.
Nice video. My Dad piloted a B-25 from Attu. I have some pretty cool pictures.
Another enjoyable indepth tour of an old bomber.
So great to see Kermit crawling through these cramped WW2 warbirds!! Thanks for sharing your birds Kermit!!
Thanks for the tour. My dad and his best friend flew 25's (I believe they were B-25 Mitchels) in the south Pacific during WWII. Saw lots of pix from the outside, but never got inside till now. Stay safe in FL. BTW my friend has a great rental home in Sedona, and we get back there every winter/Spring. Except this year of course.
WOW!!! What engineering! LOVE ME some American Iron!!!! Thanks for this.
My favourite TH-cam channel - thanks for another great film and nicely edited again.
Thanks! Always good to hear. Appreciate your support.
Thank you Kermit for the time and effort its a take to make the videos, so interesting
Any chance we could get a kermie cam in either the B-26 Maruader or the PBY Catalina (or both!)?
Ditto!
@@dustinraibourn4871 Yup. Come on KERMIE get the CAM in BOTH, PLEASE.
Oh the Marauder would be fantastic, my absolute favorite WWII medium bomber. Please please please do kermi!, pretty please.
@@catshotfourone7951 Yes, I vote for the B-26 as well. One of my favs, and it is a neglected plane. There are a number of PBY videos already.
Thank you. That was a great tour of the B25, both 1&2. I really do appreciate the lengths you go to. Thank you.
Love this touch-toggle-push-switch everything review. Made me child happy.
This gives me a whole new appreciation to the people who had to crawl through these spaces. With claustrophobia I could never do this.
This has always been my favorite bomber. In Harms Way, Kirk Douglas (capt. Eddington), "Joy ride with the chief of staff". Thanks
Kermit, thanks for preserving such an excellent aircraft that had such a incredible history during World War II.
The thing you asked about 14:08/30:35 is a 28V map light the crew would pull the knob like thing out and it would extend on a retractable cord a few feet away thus allowing them to use it as a flashlight.
Thanks for the tour Kermit.
Big thank you for the b-25 tour hopefully you can fly her some day.
Thanks Kermit for that very detailed tour of the B-25. Very cool bird!
Thanks, Mr Weeks. I try to soak up all the info I can on the Mitchell. Dad flew B-25s out of Okinawa in WWII. He died in 2013.
Fantastic tour. I can't imagine being the bombardier and having four 50. caliber machine guns going off 1 ft from your head, not to mention the swivel 50. that he operated manually. Unreal.
Kermit, thanks for taking the time to video your beautiful B25. The restoration is beyond incredible in every aspect. Would love to see it in person someday at your facility.
Good Job, Mr. Weeks. Thanks for the show the B-25. André, N.A. Mitchell fan - Brazil. 🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷
Living the dream Kermit. Thanks for the tour!
Outstanding Kermie. Keep'em fly'in.
What a fantastic plane! Thanks for sharing man. Appreciate it a lot! Greets from the Netherlands, T.
I cheer your hard work to let us enjoy the B25 from inside GJ
It would be great if I could meet u sometime Kermit! I love aviation and you inspire me to build the flying models I’m building right now
Wow, Outstanding video and presentation. Thank you
Neat tour! Crew members had to be small guys! Thanks for keeping our history alive!
I met General Doolittle in Valparaiso Fla, when a B25 was set up as a static display memorial to the Doolittle raid. This must have been 1963 or 64. This plane was the last one in USAF inventory. It is now at air armaments museum at EGLIN AFB. What a wonderful aircraft. Also knew Tom Sharp who worked at North American to install a French 75 MM cannon to the nose in the B 25.
Thank you by the way Kermit for everything you do both for TH-cam and future generations with your museum collection! Thank you!!
Super cool!! Thank you for the tour
Kermit, really appreciate you crawling around inside the aircraft. How your knees feeling? When I was in the Marine Corps we could hitch rides on aircraft (pilot permitting) when going on leave. I once had the pleasure of riding the jump seat behind the pilots (wearing a parachute of course). Below my feet was the open escape hatch I would have to drop through if we had to bail out. That flight was the high point of my hitchhiking career!
Great video as always on your lovely B25 Kermit - although from watching this one and also the previous Martin Mars "crawl-through" - I am having a re-occurring nightmare where he's in the hangar doing a tour of Fertile Myrtle (B29) and he gets his butt stuck in the bomb bay access tube and he's there alone all night and the only liquid refreshment is a bottle of Naked in Jamaica rum but "yikes" its just out of arms reach! What's Kermit going to go? Tune in for next weeks exciting episode of Kermit Weeks in - "Butt right outa luck - what a rum way to go". Keep 'em coming Kermit, love the videos.
Staying tuned to you opening up again.
My knees were creaking right along with yours watching that and imagining doing it wearing a chute.
A chute and six layers of clothes and a leather insulated suit and helmet and flak jacket and oxygen mask and flying boots....
You should do a b17 Kermie Kam
Kermit, Love your videos. Have you ever looked into getting an Israel AF Beechcraft Bonanza? This early history of that model is not always known. My dad loved renting the V-tail's in the '70s and joked that it was a clandestine fighter in the late '40s. A retired USAF Col. , he knew aviation history. He also flew early deep SAR in Vietnam in a turbine HH-43 Huski or "Pedro". Those are rare today. I think manf. by Kamen. Laminated wood inter-meshing twin rotors.
Thank you so much for sharing these beauties with us, and with such detail.
Thanks for another great video. You teach us so much.
Nice content Kermit! Greetings from Russia, here you are also watched!)
No words. Thanks!......Be safe.
Thanks again for a great video showing the internals of the B-25. Very narrow spaces to get to your working space. Not easy to get there fully geared up. 👍 for all your efforts.
Excellent vid , I was surprised you mentioned Javier Arango. I was Javier's Challenger 604 pilot. Unfortunately Javier is no longer with us , after the airplane accident he suffered. Thanks for the videos.
AMAZING !! How many little parts can be stuffed into a plane !!
Yep. And the crew had to know it inside and out!
And each time they added armor plates: "We're gonna need more horsepower!"
Great tour! You had me in stitches, a few times. Hope you enjoyed your favorite rum beverage! Cheers!
Thanks so much Kermit for this wonderful walk around on one of my two favorite Twin Engine planes fra The WW2 👍❤🇺🇲
Two thumbs up Kermie
Totally amazing what you do. Love the videos.
I had the opportunity to fly in the Yankee Warrior in Michigan and know what it's like to crawl thru under the pilot when in flight to set in that nose gunner area was the coolest thing I've done and set next to a ww2 pilot behind the pilot and co pilot when landing and he was pointing out the three green lights to me that the gear was down and we were safe to land
Good luck we are pulling for you!