Touring western Canada with the Commemorative Air Force’s ‘Flying Legends of Victory Tour,’ this 1944 Mitchell B-25J — Maid in the Shade — stopped briefly at Springbank airport last week to clear Canadian customs..The Commemorative Air Force is a non-profit flying museum that operates a fleet of 175 World War II aircraft, mostly for static and air show display. Formerly known as the Confederate Air Force — political sensibilities made a name change acceptable to the membership in 2002 — the group’s goal is to preserve and fly an example of every U.S. aircraft operated by U.S. forces during the Second World War..Now based in Mesa, AZ, Maid in the Shade was one of 10,000 Mitchells produced during the war by North American Aviation. Only 34 remain in flying condition. The type was used primarily for low-level ground attack but is probably best-remembered for its role in the 1942 Doolittle Raid when 16 of them, launched from aircraft carriers, bombed Tokyo..This particular aircraft flew combat missions over Italy and Yugoslavia..From Springbank, she transited to Lethbridge where she joined the CAF’s B-17 — Sentimental Journey — for the CAF’s western Canadian tour that after stops in Cranbrook and Penticton, wraps up in Victoria on July 31st.
