Hi,
I got my serial number from the book "Field Guide to the Kokoda Track" (by Bill James who we met on the track!)
It said that the aircraft is a composite. The engines do not belong to the plane.
Here is the paragraphs about the plane and engines. (sorry about my transcription errors in advance!)
"You can still see the wartime earthen aircraft parking bays (revetments) now covered by kunai grass. Several aircraft were set up on display at the side of the terminal in the 1970s and '80s, but today only the Mitchell B-25 remains; the others have been removed by private restorers, some with, and some without, permission. Mitchels first entered service with the US Army Air Corps in mid-1941 but large-scale production ......(short description of Mitchell and payload)
....
The engines displayed next to the plane do not belong to the Mitchell. They are two R-2800 engines that have come from seperate US single-engine P47D Thunderbolts (note the four blades). The Mitchell on display is 'Bar-Fly" number B25A-5-NA, Serial Number 43-4450. The nose was replaced at some stage, perhaps becaused of damage, and has a different serial number. The
Bar-Fly was flowen across the Pacific in late 1943, piloted by Second Lieutenant Robert Schalkle, and accompanied by his crew of Duvall, McGourty, Hellstrom, Davis, and [
and get this!!!!] Maddox. They flew via Hawaii, Nadi (in Fiji) and New Caledonia and landed at Amberley, west of Brisbane. [Quesland, Australia]"
Maybe there is a mix up with the aircraft being a composite? It also talks about the the plane being modified to incorporate the the gun pods on the cheeks, The pods were not present but the shadows where they had been were quite visible, also the ammo feed holes were quiet roughly cut through the sides of the plane.
Coulds this sort of alteration change the designation????
Theres about a page devoted to the service history of the plane if any one is interested which I can type in later. (my wife is giving me 'that look' as I am typing this so my time on the PC at the moment is limited)
I took about 800 picture on my 10 or so days in New Guinea (very few related to the air war I was more interested in the bits related to where my dad served) I'll try to get a few more posted later.
Cheers!
History's a bit more hads on in PNG!
Here are a few more photo's
Close up of the engine.
Just forward of the propellor blade you can see the shadows from the side machine gun pods. The square holes were roughly cut through the side of the plane!
An interior shot