B-25J crash on Friday Mtn

[Jay H]

Some pictures from Hermit and I's hike from Moon Haw state land to the wreckage of the B-25 between Friday and Balsam Cap.

http://community.webshots.com/album/548624089TwdNZN

What a B-25 supposed to look like:

http://www.b25.net

Some pictures from an Air Force bomber that crashed on Friday Mtn in the catskills in 1948. This B-25 Mitchell saw action in WWII in France before returning to the US and used as a trainer, before slamming into Friday Mtn in the catskills north of the Ashoken Reservoir. The story/investigation indicates that it was on a typical training run (1 pilot, 2 trainees) when in bad weather, attempted to land at Stewart AFB outside Newburgh. The only problem was they weren't heading to Newburgh, they were heading towards Kingston, NY. And unfortunately for them, headed right into the catskills. The impact was at around 2600' ASL and the impact scatterered wreckage all over the drainage between Balsam Cap (3620') and Friday Mtn (3694'). What's left of the 2 engine twin tail bomber is basically strewn appart on the mtnside, the rear part of the fuselage (including the tail gunner) can still be made out although in a crumpled heap. However, most of the front of the plane disintegrated upon impact. The wings are in various pieces and the two radial engines are still there. There's even a propellar there. As mentioned above, 3 persons loss their life in this event.

Jay

[rockysummit]

Wow, thanks Jay for those shots. I havn't run across that wreckage yet, always a wierd feeling when I do. I remember seeing photos of the bomber on Van Wyck and talked to Ralph about maybe checking out that one this spring. I didn't notice the date of the photos, was this a recent trip?
-Tony

[Jay H]

Those pictures were from last weekend... 3/11/06 Hermit and I did BC/Rocky/Lone from Moonhaw and on the way to BC, we whacked over to the wreckage...

I noticed I forgot to put a link to what a B-25 should look like, here's a pretty good website on all things B-25:

www.b25.net

I tried to email the guy there about the particular one in the catskills, but no response yet anyway.

Jay

[daxs]

So Jay (aka Marco Polo) when are you going back to Friday and BC? Is this the plane crash we didn;t find last fall?

[Jay H]

Yes, that is the plane wreck we missed. I think we crossed that drainage but completely missed it! Perhaps we were either too high or too low...

It would be fun to check it out in the spring with the snow gone, a lot of the parts are still buried under snow. I am pretty sure I can find it fairly easily now from the state land..

Jay

[rockysummit]

I'd like to check that out when the time comes, along with Van Wyck crash.

[billandjudy]

Neat pics of a little catskill history

[hermit]

I still need Rocky and Lone in April. I would not mind a repeat from the same area. Nice pics ,Jay. I may hit the Blackheads tomorrow.

[rockysummit]

Hey Ralph, sounds good to me. Let me know if you plan on Van Wyck anytime soon.
-Tony

[hermit]

Hi Tony,
I will do that.
Take Care

[masshysteria]

Interesting pics Jay. The B-25 was a small medium range bomber used in the beginning of the war, but was soon out-classed by the larger B-17 and B-29's. The most famous use of the Mitchell was during Jimmy Doolittle's raid on Tokyo in the beginning of the war. Some were adapted for a carrier launch, and sent on a one-way mission to bomb the Japanese capital. Although the damage from the bombing was minimal, it did boost the American morale. Because the planes were not capable of landing on a carrier, the pilots were instructed to land in the Soviet Union or non Japanese controlled parts of China. However, many of the flight crews fell into Japanese hands and were executed.

Is there any kind of plaque or memorial to the crew at the crash site?

[Jay H]

Tom, I did not see any but I will find out, I'm sure somebody from the 3500 club would know cause they would probably be the ones who would erect and install a plaque.

Jay

[hermit]

There was no plaque in 1967 when I first went to the crash ,and don't think there ever was one. It was paint bombed backed then to identify it as a found crash. You could also see where the trees were sheared off,and signs of a fire. All of the props were there back then. Now only one is left. I hope no one takes that.