Volunteers keep historic bomber flying

Published Sept. 16, 2022
By R.J. Oriez
88th Air Base Wing Public Affairs

A ground crew of volunteers clean oil from the Champaign Gal’s engine cowlings and handle other postflight tasks, preparing to tow her back into the Champaign Aviation Museum on Aug. 27, 2022, in Urbana, Ohio. The volunteers, most of them veterans, keep the 78-year-old B-25 flying. (U.S. Air Force photo by R.J. Oriez)

URBANA, Ohio -- Chuck Mangold is a flight safety officer in one of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s system program offices. He is also a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel with 20 years of experience flying C-130s.

He has a hobby many would envy. Several weekends a year, he gets to step back in time and fly a totally different airplane—a World War II B-25 bomber.

B-25 technical manuals sit on a workbench at the Champaign Aviation Museum on March 12, 2022, in Urbana, Ohio. Old manuals are referred to for maintenance on the old plane. (U.S. Air Force photo by R.J. Oriez)

“It’s so enjoyable,” Mangold said. “I get to go out and meet veterans, talk to the families of people who maybe their father or someone else had flown the B-25, or at least served in World War II.”

Mangold is among a group of volunteers with the Champaign Aviation Museum in Urbana. They work year-round to keep the bomber, “Champaign Gal,” airworthy and devote time restoring other aircraft, including a B-17, C-47 and Navy C-1.

Champaign Gal, a B-25 Mitchell bomber, sits on jack stands in the Champaign Aviation Museum on March 12, 2022, in Urbana, Ohio. Museum staff and volunteers removed the plane’s wheels and main mounts for maintenance. The propellers were removed and sent to Michigan for recertification. (U.S. Air Force photo by R.J. Oriez)

“When I first moved here in 2015, I heard that they were restoring a B-17. My passion was really to be part of the B-17 restoration process,” Mangold said. “Once I got involved with that, I quickly realized that there was a flyable B-25 in the hangar.”

Mangold remembers how David Shiffer, the museum director, told him a month doesn’t go by that he doesn’t get a call from an airline pilot with thousands of hours volunteering to fly for them.

“He’ll ask them, ‘Well, are you willing to show up on any given Saturday and push a broom around the hangar floor?’ And most of them say ‘no,’ and he’s like, ‘Well, we’re really not interested in you then,’” Mangold said. “You have to be willing to do not just the fun stuff, the flying, you also have to be willing to show up for the safety meetings. You have to be willing to show up on the days that we just do restoration work on the B-25 or B-17, so that you prove your worth to the museum.”

Mangold kept showing up and proving his worth.

“I waited a couple of years for them to get know me and me to get to know them,” Mangold said. “Eventually, when they realized I wasn’t going to go away, they offered to let me join their flight program.”

Flying season is in the summer, but the work is year-round.

Volunteers keep historic bomber flying

Randy Kemp works in one of the engine cowlings of the Champaign Gal, a World War II-era B-25 bomber, on Feb. 12, 2022, at the Champaign Aviation Museum in Urbana, Ohio. Kemp oversees maintenance on the 78-year-old plane to keep it airworthy. (U.S. Air Force photo by R.J. Oriez)

SLIDESHOW | images | Volunteers keep historic bomber flying

Volunteers keep historic bomber flying

Bill Roundtree (front) and Lee Dwiggens, Champaign Aviation Museum volunteers, work on wiring May 21, 2022, in the tail section of Champaign Gal, a B-25 Mitchell bomber. Both Roundtree and Dwiggens served in the Navy as aviation electronics technicians and are among the many veterans who volunteer to work on the museum’s planes. (U.S. Air Force photo by R.J. Oriez)

SLIDESHOW | images | Volunteers keep historic bomber flying

Volunteers keep historic bomber flying

Dave Shiffer (left), Champaign Aviation Museum executive director and head of flight operations, and volunteer Matt Davis help cycle a prop on the World War II B-25 bomber Champaign Gal while preparing to start the engine July 15, 2022, outside the museum at Grimes Field in Urbana, Ohio. Each engine holds more than 45 gallons of oil, and some of it pools in the lower pistons when not in use. Cycling propellers distributes the oil, which prevents engine damage. (U.S. Air Force photo by R.J. Oriez)

SLIDESHOW | images | Volunteers keep historic bomber flying

Volunteers keep historic bomber flying

Dale Davis, a Champaign Aviation Museum volunteer, cleans the nose window of the World War II-era B-25 bomber Champaign Gal on April 23, 2022, in Urbana, Ohio. The Champaign Gal is one of the few B-25s still airworthy and flying. (U.S. Air Force photo by R.J. Oriez)

SLIDESHOW | images | Volunteers keep historic bomber flying

In March, Champaign Gal was up on jack stands. Her wheels were off, main mounts in pieces, and her propellors were in Michigan being recertified.

“It’s an ongoing process,” said Dan Dickerson, a volunteer and member of the museum’s board of directors. “It’s an airplane, so there’s always something you have to be working on.”

Mangold said he’s often asked what the hardest part is of flying the B-25. His answer? Getting the engines started.

“It’s not just a turnkey or a push-button,” he said. “You almost have to be an octopus and have like eight hands because there’s levers, switches, different things you have to turn on and off in the right sequence to get the engine to start.”

He finds the actual flying is not hard.

“It flies like an airplane — you know, a little left rudder and the airplane turns left,” he said.

Exhaust bellows from the right engine as it coughs to life before a flight July 15, 2022, from Grimes Field in Urbana, Ohio. The B-25 was on its way to Evansville Wartime Museum in Indiana for an event. (U.S. Air Force photo by R.J. Oriez)

He found there is one difference flying the B-25 compared to a C-130.

“The C-130 has hydraulic assist on all the flight controls,” Mangold said. “The B-25 can be a little bit of a handful. It has no hydraulic assist. So, everything is strength and I think my right arm looks like Popeye because you’re going to manhandle the controls a lot more than what you would in a C-130.”

Those wanting more information on the Champaign Aviation Museum or interested in volunteering can visit its website at www.champaignaviationmuseum.org.

Volunteers keep historic bomber flying

Tom Printz, Champaign Aviation Museum volunteer, directs the B-25 Champaign Gal toward a taxiway July 15, 2022, as it departs Urbana, Ohio, for an event in Evansville, Indiana. The museum’s volunteer crew fly the World War II-era plane to air shows and other events, where they provide a Living History Flight Experience to paying customers. (U.S. Air Force photo by R.J. Oriez)

SLIDESHOW | images | Volunteers keep historic bomber flying

Volunteers keep historic bomber flying

The Champaign Gal makes an approach over a rural Ohio cornfield as it comes home to Grimes Field on Aug. 27, 2022, in Urbana. The World War II-era bomber is one of the few B-25s still airworthy and flying. (U.S. Air Force photo by R.J. Oriez)

SLIDESHOW | images | Volunteers keep historic bomber flying

Volunteers keep historic bomber flying

Veteran signatures line the inside of the B-25 Champaign Gal’s bomb bay doors in this photo taken July 15, 2022, at the Champaign Aviation Museum in Urbana, Ohio. The museum’s volunteer crew fly the World War II-era plane to air shows and other events, where they provide a Living History Flight Experience to paying customers. (U.S. Air Force photo by R.J. Oriez)

SLIDESHOW | images | Volunteers keep historic bomber flying

Volunteers keep historic bomber flying

Chuck Mangold performs a preflight check on the Champaign Gal, a World War II B-25 bomber, on July 15, 2022, at Grimes Field in Urbana, Ohio. Mangold, among the Champaign Aviation Museum volunteer pilots, has a day job as a flight safety officer in one of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s system program offices. He is a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and C-130 pilot. (U.S. Air Force photo by R.J. Oriez)

SLIDESHOW | images | Volunteers keep historic bomber flying