."..Doolittle and Duncan had concurred that the North American B-25--a twin-engined, high-winged medium bomber--was the only aircraft capable of meeting the mission requirements. The five-man plane could carry a ton of bombs at close to three hundred miles per hour. It had an impressive two-thousand-mile range. Best of all, the plane was compact: 53 feet long with a wingspan a shade wider than 67 feet. The make-or-break question was whether a B-25 could take off from an aircraft carrier. Duncan arranged to hoist two B-25s, stripped to their lightest weights, aboard the Hornet at Norfolk. Then the big ship put to sea.
Takeoff No.1 (BAIL OUT) Crew from 34th Squadron, 17th Group Pilot Lt. Col. James H. DooLittle Co-pilot Lt. Richard E. Cole Navigator Lt Henry A. Potter Bombardier Sgt. Fred A. Braemer *Gunner Sgt. Paul J. Leonard (Killed in bomb attack in Africa Jan. 5, 1943)
Takeoff No.2 (CRASH LANDING - China) Crew from 37th Squadron, 17th Group Pilot Lt. Travis Hoover Co-pilot Lt. William N. Fitzhugh Navigator Lt. Carl R. Wildner *Bombardier Lt. Richard E. Miller (Killed in action in Africa Jan. 22, 1943) Gunner Sgt. Douglas V. Radney
1927: Flying a Curtiss P-1B Hawk biplane, Jimmy Doolittle performs the first outside loop.
Takeoff No.3 (BAIL, OUT) Crew from 95th Squadron, 17th Group *Pilot Lt. Robert M. Gray (Killed in crash enroute to China from India Oct. 18, 1942) *Co-pilot Lt. Jacob E. Manch (Killed balling out of T-33, Las Vegas, Nevada, Mar. 24, 1958) Navigator Lt. Charles J. Ozuk Bombardier Sgt. Aden E. Jones *Gunner Cpl. Leland D. Faktor (Killed bailing out in China after Tokyo Raid, April 18, 1942)
