The B-25 became inseparable from the Raiders.
The raid gave the Mitchell a permanent place in public memory, even though the aircraft continued serving in many other roles and variants.
The aircraft legacy
Identity comes before status claims.
The wartime Barbie III was serial 43-4380. The restored aircraft shown in the recovered gallery appears to be registration N5548N: actual serial 43-4106, painted to represent 43-4380. That distinction is preserved rather than collapsed.
Representation is not the same as manufacture.
The museum record identifies wartime Barbie III as 43-4380. The FAA registry identifies N5548N as a 1943 B-25H manufactured as serial 43-4106.
Registration is not an airworthiness finding.
The FAA registration was current when checked, but the FAA explicitly warns that its registry cannot establish whether an aircraft is airworthy. No “last flying” claim is made here.
From the recovered collection
The surviving visual record.
