Whether it is in our museum or on the road, it is always wonderful to have a moment to talk with someone associated with an aircraft type that we have in our collection. It is more remarkable when they crossed paths with our actual aircraft. That is exactly what we found out on the Madison, Wisconsin, B-25 Berlin Express tour stop in June when we talked with Roy Malkin, EAA 637420.
His longtime passion for aviation started on a freezing-cold ramp in Ohio, where he earned his pilot certificate at the age of just 17. This led him on many adventures in both the civilian and military aviation world.
He found himself working cotton gins in Mexico in the late ‘60s and ‘70s, and for fun he took time to go to a few seaside resorts. On one of the trips he encountered a full lobby of B-25 crews who were there filming a movie named Catch-22, which EAA’s B-25 Berlin Express took part in. He got to know the crews and asked a few of them if they would like to fly in his private jet to Mexico City for the weekend. After the end of a great weekend the crew members asked how they could thank him. He said, “Well, I would love to fly one of those B-25s.” “The guys told me that it would not be possible, but after a few days I received a call that said get down here on Thursday morning,” Roy said.
Roy arrived on the day that the film production crew started filming the mass takeoff scenes which the movie has become famous for. “It was very early in the morning when we walked out to the planes. The winds were very calm.” After briefing, the crews walked out to their airplanes. Roy walked out to a B-25 named Superman, which today is restored in the Cavanaugh Flight Museum. This aircraft is an actual WWII combat vet and is restored in its actual WWII colors named How Boot That?
“We had to make several attempts, and were always second from the last row. The real challenge was the dust. It was almost 0/0 visibility. The turbulence was also something to worry about. The wake from all of the planes taking off would rock our airplane on the takeoff roll.”
Roy was lucky enough to cross paths with legendary Hollywood pilot Frank Tallman as well while on the set. Frank Tallman is the man responsible for organizing this formation of B-25s for the movie. What Frank most likely did not realize is that he would become responsible for saving a significant portion of the surviving B-25 population.