USS Hornet Doolittle Raid Scale Model

Visit Our on site Air Museum

Experience in 3-D the impressive USS Hornet scale model of the famous Doolittle Raid and view historical news reel footage.

USS Hornet flight deck April 1942

View 1942 vintage news reel.

The B-25 first gained fame as the bomber used in the 18 April 1942 Doolittle Raid, in which 16 B-25Bs led by Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle attacked mainland Japan, four months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The mission gave a much-needed lift in spirits to the Americans, and alarmed the Japanese who had believed their home islands were inviolable by enemy forces. Although the amount of actual damage done was relatively minor, it forced the Japanese to divert troops for the home defense for the remainder of the war. 

The raiders took off from the carrier USS Hornet and successfully bombed Tokyo and four other Japanese cities without loss. However, 15 B-25 bombers subsequently crash-landed en route to recovery fields in Eastern China. These losses were the result of the task force being spotted by a Japanese vessel forcing the bombers to take off 170 mi (270 km) early, fuel exhaustion, stormy nighttime conditions with zero visibility, and lack of electronic homing aids at the recovery bases. 

Only one B-25 bomber landed intact; it came down in the Soviet Union, where its five-man crew was interned and the aircraft confiscated. Of the 80 aircrew, 69 survived their historic mission and eventually made it back to American lines.

This news reel made later, shows rare color movies. It represents a more substantial effort to document the importance of the 1942 raid.

<

View Doolittle's Raid Training Preparations. Alec Baldwin plays Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle. (9 minutes)

View of Doolittle's Raid -from carrier take-off to bombing run over Japan. Ben Affleck plays one of the pilots. (9 minutes)
Our Museum has Doolittle's actual cockpit seat armor (the only one not thrown out out for weight reduction.)

 View of Doolittle Raid. B-25s land in China after raid, Ben Affleck plays pilot. (9 minutes)

Interactive 3D Light Sculpture installations by Stephen Bornstein

3D Light Sculpture provides an awesome vehicle for new interactive technologies.

Sculptures can be fabricated from a variety of semi-transparent materials. Installations can be constructed to be temporary or more permanent.

Video of an installation.

Videos of an installation at Austin 2012 New Years Eve Celebration.

A short video time sequence of the process of creating a large 3D light sculpture at one of Austin's iconic event.

Award Winning Video Screened at 2012 SXSW 

 Video of 3D Light Sculpture Installation at Austin's New Years Eve Celebration on December 31, 2011. Over 25,000 people attended event.

CAF-CENTEX- Offers Vintage B-25 Bomber Flights

Experience the thrill and excitement of a flight on "The Yellow Rose." The Commemorative Air Force - Central Texas Air Wing vintage B-25 Mitchell Bomber! 

Now everyone can enjoy the excitement, the history,  the memories of flying in a legend.

Soar above the Central Texas landscape while friends and family enjoy themselves in our museum and observation library.

Our B-25 Bomber - A True American Hero

Group flights (4 passenger minimum) make the perfect gift, or "employee incentive award." Lucky recipients get to share the excitement of the experience with as many of their guests as they wish to invite to our facility at the conveniently located San Marcos Municipal Airport.

Guests can watch the flight, enjoy our multi-media hanger displays, museum, library and our "officers club" and observation area.

Deck of the aircraft carrier USS Hornet, 1942

Deck of the aircraft carrier USS Hornet, 1942

The B-25 first gained fame as the bomber used in the 18 April 1942 Doolittle Raid, in which 16 B-25Bs led by Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle attacked mainland Japan, four months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor (he received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his bravery.) The mission gave a much-needed lift in spirits to the Americans, and alarmed the Japanese who had believed their home islands were inviolable by enemy forces.

The Story of Our "Yellow Rose"

The North American B-25 Mitchell was an American twin-engined medium bomber manufactured by North American Aviation. It was used by many Allied air forces, in every theater of World War II, as well as many other air forces after the war ended, and saw service across four decades.

B-25 - Top Side and Front Views

The B-25 bomber's story has been immortalized in many famous films.

Below are selected scenes from The 2001 movie "Pearl Harbor." The film contains a vivid depiction of the B-25, Doolittle Raid on Japan (1942).

View Doolittle's Raid Training Preparations. Alec Baldwin plays Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle. (9 minutes)

View of Doolittle's Raid -from carrier take-off to bombing run over Japan. Ben Affleck plays one of the pilots. (9 minutes)

View of Doolittle Raid- B-25s landing in China after raid. (9 minutes)

Documentary of filming the movie "Pearl Harbor." The Doolittle's Raid. portion was shot on an actual aircraft carrier with vintage B-25s. (9 minutes)

Actual video tour on board the "Yellow Rose" in flight. (7 minutes)

Bornstein assists CAF-CENTEX with multi-media museum exhibits

Stephen Bornstein assists the Commemorative Air Force - Central Texas Air Wing museum & hanger to create multi-media and multi-language on-line displays.

San Marcos's CAF - Centex's Hanger

Visitors (and a worldwide internet audience) to The CAF-Central Texas Wing Museum at the San Marcos, Texas Municipal Airport will soon be able to view original cockpit and flyby videos with historical and technical data accessed on their mobile devices. The on-line displays will be available in 12 languages (see sample of Spanish version).

Additionally, the museum will be actively promoted to San Marcos visitors with English and Spanish printed materials.
Proposed bilingual poster for use at the San Marcos area Outlet Malls and other locations.

The Yellow Rose - CAF - Centex's B-25

San Marcos's CAF - Centex's Museum - USS Hornet Doolittle Raid Display

San Marcos's CAF - Centex's - Museum displays

San Marcos's CAF - Centex's - Museum displays

See Our Vintage Flying North American B-25 Mitchell

The North American B-25 Mitchell was an American twin-engined medium bomber manufactured by North American Aviation. It was used by many Allied air forces, in every theater of World War II, as well as many other air forces after the war ended, and saw service across four decades.

The B-25 was named in honor of General Billy Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. By the end of its production, nearly 10,000 B-25s in numerous models had been built. These included a few limited variations, such as the United States Navy's and Marine Corps' PBJ-1 patrol bomber and the United States Army Air Forces' F-10 photo reconnaissance aircraft.

View Air Show Takeoff and Flyby.

Actual video tour on board the "Yellow Rose" in flight. (7 minutes)

Top, Side and Front views of our B-25, "Yellow Rose"

North American B-25 Mitchell Technical Data

Role: Medium bomber

Manufacturer: North American Aviation

First flight: 19 August 1940

Introduction:1941

Retired:1979 (Indonesia)

Primary users;

United States Army Air Forces

Royal Canadian Air Force

Royal Air ForceUnited States Navy

Number built: 9,984

Developed from: XB-21

Developed into: North American XB-28