'Georgie's Gal' B-25 bomber home for the holidays

PORTAGE TOWNSHIP - As families throughout the United States travel across the country to journey home for Thanksgiving gatherings, one local historical hotspot had a homecoming of their own this week.

On Saturday, the Liberty Aviation Museum welcomed home "Georgie's Gal," a North American B-25 J Mitchell Bomber plane, one of the most-prized aircraft in their collection.

It is also one of the few remaining airworthy planes of its make and model. Georgie's Gal was first constructed at a manufacturing plant in Kansas City and was accepted for service in 1945, though with the end of World War II nearing, she was never flown into a combat. The plane was used for training purposes before eventually being decommissioned from military use and entering civilian service.

The Liberty Aviation Museum purchased the plane in 2011, making it the first aircraft to enter their official collection and giving it a very special spot in the hearts of museum staff, director of operations Jeff Sondles said. Georgie's Gal gets the name from the museum’s benefactor, George Woodling Jr., an aviation history enthusiast who died in 2010.

Since the purchase, the bomber has undergone numerous extensive restoration projects for both mechanical reasons and a cosmetic overhaul.

Sondles described the the inspiration for Georgie's Gal's eye-catching paint job as the sometimes temperamental nature of fighter pilots. On one side is Angela, a haloed angel and on the other, Helena, clad with devilish horns.

Most recently, the plane spent 14 months away at in Chino, California to receive its final batch of significant restoration and maintenance, such as the installation of all-new fuel tanks, mechanic Tyler Farmer said.

Farmer, 24, a certified airframe and power plant mechanic, spent eight of those months working on the bomber while in Chino. He, too, made the journey home with Georgie's Gal.

Now she should be home for good, other than brief weekend visits to showcase her prowess at other airshows.

"All of the heavy maintenance that this aircraft could have ever needed has now been done," said Eric Paul, who works in restoration at the museum.

The B-25 has a rich and exciting history, a bomber capable of maneuvering more like a gunner, despite a bomb payload of 3,000 pounds, Paul said.

To learn more, guests need just ask any of the mechanics during a visit to the Liberty Aviation Museum.

jstinchcom@gannett.com

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Twitter: @JonDBN