“Panchito in B&W” J-3 Cub HD Acrylic Print 30 x 20 in

“Panchito in B&W” , 2017 – Photographer: Jessica Voruda

Archival Pigment Print on Metallic Photo Paper
Face-Mounted to Optically Clear Acrylic
30 x 20 in / 76 x 51 cm

Panchito is a North American B-25J Mitchell medium bomber, captured here in a banking pass over Lakeland, Florida during the annual SUN ‘n FUN Aerospace Expo. The polished aluminum skin, rendered in black and white, emphasizes the sculptural geometry of the airframe: the twin Wright R-2600 radials, the greenhouse nose, and the distinctive twin vertical stabilizers that defined North American Aviation’s most produced twin-engine combat aircraft of the Second World War.

The aircraft wears the markings of the original Panchito, B-25J serial 43-28147, assigned in 1945 to Captain Don Seiler of the 396th Bomb Squadron, 41st Bomb Group, Seventh Air Force. Named after the feisty rooster from Disney’s The Three Caballeros, the original Panchito flew 19 combat missions from Okinawa against targets in Kyushu and eastern China, including the 41st Bomb Group’s final combat mission of the war on August 12, 1945. Today’s flying Panchito is owned and operated by the Delaware Aviation Museum Foundation and remains one of the few airworthy B-25Js offering living-history flight experiences.