This B-25 was intended for the USAAF as 44-30988 but entered service in March 1945 with the USN as 35857. Its service life was short being retired in March 1947 but by July was flying for the Saint Louis Flying Service as N5865V. Then followed a long list of owners and operators before arriving at the Commemorative AF SoCal Wing to begin a decades-long, deep restoration. In May 2016 the first post-restoration flight took place with the plane painted to represent VMB-611 B-25 35243/MB 11, which was lost along with its seven man crew during a strike on the Kibawe Trail near Davao in May 1945.

There was some sort of an event taking place at the CAF SoCal wing the following day and so Minsi III was towed out of the hangar for an engine run-up and test. I wasn't allowed onto the ramp whilst the engine was running and so the pictures are quite back-lit. However, here she is being towed back into the main hangar after the tests were fininshed. This airframe fell into disrepair after WWII and was discovered as a derelict hulk in Minnesota with the data plate missing. As a result the true identity of the plane may never be known.

SN201 lifts off rw25R at the start of its flight to Dakar (DSS). This 333 was originally delivered to Lufthansa as D-AIKG in January 2005.

DL141 climbs out from rw26R at the start of the flight across to New York (JFK).

3O852 is pictured climbing out from rw25R at the start of its flight to Oujda (OUD).

This rather sleek, 2004-built A-109 was parked on the Freedom Aviation ramp during my visit.

This 2006-built Twin Star is pictured taxiing out to rw08 for departure.

This 1972-built Robin was nicely parked on the grass in front of the super AV8 cafe during my visit.

The Hare flew with the Bulgarian AF from 1957 until 1971. This example served at the Krumovo military airfield adjacent to LBPD and came to the museum in 1991.

The Fishbed D interceptor fighter was in service with the Bulgarian AF from 1964 until 1984. This example served at the Gabrovnica Air Base (LBMG) and came to the museum in February 1993.

The Morava was in service with the Bulgarian AF from 1963 to 1988 as a signals and liason plane. This example first flew in June 1964 and made its last flight in August 1983 before being transferred to the museum in February 1993 from the Bulgarian AF Academy at Dolna Mitropolia (LBPL).

This 312 was originally delivered to KLM as PH-AGE in January 1984. It went to MEA in March 1982 and is pictured taxiing out to rw28 for departure back to Beirut (BEY). The plane later underwent freighter conversion and flew for FedEx as N443FE, before being wfu and ferried to Victorville (VCV) in November 2015 and scrapped in March 2024.

This 321 was delivered to Swissair in February 1995 and is pictured taxiing out to rw28 for Air Méditerranée departure. It went on to fly with Swiss, Blue Wings (with a lease to Mahan Air) and Air Méditerranée (with a lease to Myanmar Airways International) as F-GYAZ. The plane was wfu in February 2016 and eventually scrapped at Ljubljana (LJLJ).

This 732 was delivered to British Airways in June 1980 and is pictured taxiing out to rw28 for depature back to the UK. It was wfu in November 2000 and then went to Safair to be leased to South Afican Airways as ZS-SIS and then Comair (British Airways). In October 2005 the plane joined Icaro Air as HC-CFD before being scrapped at Latacunga - Cotopaxi (LTX / SELT) sometime after June 2011.

X36122 is pictured departing off rw05R bound for Hurghada (HRG).

This was originally delivered to Condor Berlin in November 1998 but later transferred over to Thomas Cook in July 2002 and then Condor in May 2004. It was wfu in December 2024 and is presently stored at EDDL.

VL2016 is pictured slowing down on rw05R after the flight up from Munich (MUC).

NP7604 is pictured taxiing out to rw24 for departure back to Hurghada (HRG). This 320 was originally delivered to Air Arabia as A6-ABU in May 2010 and also flew for Air Arabia Maroc as CN-NMD before joining Nile Air in May 2016.

P72101 is pictured lined up on rw24 for departure to Bratislava (BTS). This was originally delivered to Air Berlin as D-ABBY in September 2007.

2W8547 is pictured departing off rw24 at the start of its flight to Holguin (HOG). This plane was originally delivered to Singapore Airlines as 9V-SSD in September 2014 and joined World2Fly in October 2024.