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4 unusual facts about B-25 Mitchell aircraft in Catch-22


B-25 Mitchell aircraft in Catch-22

Tallmantz president, Frank G. Tallman ended up finding war-surplus aircraft, and eventually gathered not only pilots to fly the aircraft but also a ground support crew to maintain the fleet.

Fifteen of the 18 bombers used in the film still remain intact, including one on display at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum.

The Catch-22s budget could only accommodate 17 flyable B-25 Mitchells, and an additional non-flyable hulk was acquired in Mexico, made barely ferry-able and flown with landing gear down to the Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico filming location, only to be burned and destroyed in the landing crash scene.

When Catch-22 began preliminary production, Paramount made a decision to hire the Tallmantz Aviation organization to obtain sufficient B-25 Mitchell bomber aircraft to recreate a Mediterranean wartime base as depicted in the Joseph Heller novel of the same name.



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