The North American B-25J "Mitchell" was built in Kansas City in 1945. However, it was never used in active service, but after its completion it was used briefly as an electronic test platform. Later the B-25 was taken to the Davis Air Force Base, an aircraft cemetery in Arizona, and stored there. A fire-fighting company acquired the aircraft in the mid-1970s, intending to use it for fire-fighting purposes, although this never actually happened.

At the beginning of the 1980s the B-25 returned to Kansas City, this time to a flying club. It was re-named the "Fairfax Ghost", and operated until 1994. In 1995 the B-25 was acquired by Red Bull.

After its acquisition the B-25 was thoroughly overhauled and renovated, and transformed into a civil aviation version with a comfortable interior (20,000 hours of labour). In the September of 1997 it was ready to fly across the North Atlantic and on to its destination airport of Innsbruck. The aircraft was finally moved to its future home base of Salzburg at the beginning of 2001.

For more information about the “Mitchell” and The Flying Bulls, please check in at www.flyingbulls.at .

Photo by: Flying Bulls. Click to see larger pictures.