The Project

A 30-year old Michigan man is organizing a small team of volunteers to rescue a crashed B-25 from Alaska.    This June, Patrick Mihalek and his friend Todd Trainor, both from Brighton, are planning to recover a 70-year old North American B-25J Mitchell bomber (USAAF # 44-30733) from her remote crash site in Alaska.  
 
For years this famous World War II era bomber has been nicknamed “Sandbar Mitchell” after she was forced to land on a sandbar in the Tanana River outside of Fairbanks after a double-engine failure shortly after takeoff in 1969.
 
Using parts from other salvaged B-25’s and hunting for additional parts, the two hope to rebuild her to flying status.  She will fly as Sandbar Mitchell under the public trust for the non-profit Warbirds of Glory Museum.
 
Become part of the Sandbar Mitchell Support team through your donation.  As part of the Support Team your donation will bring the remains of Sandbar Mitchell to a Michigan workshop so she can be restored to flying condition. 
 

The Passion

My name is Patrick Mihalek. I have been passionate about aviation since I was a child. 
 
My entire life is about aviation. After college I received my A&P certification and started a small business with a big dream to restore warbirds. For the past five years I have done that. I have worked my way up from nothing. I now travel frequently to maintain warbirds and in my shop I am restoring a 1940 NA-64 Yale for a customer. 
 
I always dreamed about restoring a B-25 Mitchell bomber, but never thought it would actually happen, until now. I have found a B-25J Mitchell bomber that can be recovered from Alaska and restored to flying condition using parts that I have collected over the past few years.
 
We are two guys from Brighton with proven passion for aviation history and shallow pockets. We cannot do this by ourselves.  We need your help to make this succeed.  
 

The Airplane

 
First let us tell you about the airplane. This plane is nicknamed “Sandbar Mitchell” because she is a B-25J Mitchell bomber that crash-landed on a sandbar in the Tanana River.
 

After serving her duties with the USAAF from 1944 to 1959, Sandbar Mitchell continued to serve her country as fire-suppression bomber, Tanker #8. Owned by Edgar Thorsrud, she was one of several B-25s used in Alaska in the late 1960’s to help fight forest fires. On June 27th, 1969 she was called into duty to help fight the Manley Hot Springs fires. Shortly after takeoff she experienced double-engine failure. The pilot, Herm Gallaher had very few options, so instead of landing in the river or in the forest he landed gear up on a small sandbar in the middle of the Tanana River. 

 
Herm walked away, but the right wing was damaged and the forward fuselage was wrinkled. After her engines, propellers and wheels were removed, she was abandoned. 
 
Please watch this 4-minute video to learn more about B-25J Sandbar Mitchell and our involvement in the education of our community’s youth.
 
 
 
 
B-25 Bomber “Sandbar Mitchell” Rescue from Alaska using crowd sourcing