Forum: aviation.stackexchange.com
Tags: <bomber><aircraft-identification>
Title: Have B-25's and B-26's been converted for private business use?
Question: In the movie  Cash McCall , the main character, McCall, owns an aircraft that looks remarkably similar to a B-25 or B-26, but is painted yellow and has no turrets.  Have these aircraft been converted for private business use or were there business aircraft based on the design of WWII bombers?

Answers:
sents: text: IMDB :
text: McCall's plane is a demilitarized Douglas A-26 Invader, a type used in WWII.
text: Since the film was made in 1960, I imagine there were plenty of them around.
text: (The A-26 was known a the B-26 from 1948 to 1965, according to Wikipedia .
text: The B-25 is easily distinguished because it has the twin tail.)
answer_details: author: aviation.stackexchange.com/users/946/David Richerby
score: 6
sents: text: Yes.
text: After World War 2, surplus aircraft were cheap, plentiful, and offered great performance compared to pre-war designs, and many were converted to use as executive transports.
text: The A-26/B-26 was no exception, being the basis for the On Mark Marksman series.
text: Some of the On Mark conversions involved pretty serious modifications like a new wing spar carrythrough and a new (and much uglier) cockpit.
text: The B-25, to my knowledge, had no comparable program carried out, but many became water bombers for use in fighting forest fires.
text: There were undoubtedly some executive conversions made as well!
text: Other types like the Lockheed Hudson/Ventura/Lodestar transports and patrol aircraft were also popular conversion choices.
answer_details: author: aviation.stackexchange.com/users/39/egid
score: 6
sents: text: The aircraft is a modified Douglas A-26 Invader.
text: As mentioned in an earlier reply there were several companies which undertook such work.
text: Most well known was On-Mark Engineering of Van Nuys, CA.
text: The 26 in question, N36B was one of several (at least two used the same reg.)
text: owned by citrus tycoon Willis (Bill) Bailard of Santa Barbara, CA.
text: He had at least three of them over the years.
text: Possibly four.
text: Including an unpressurized On-Mark Marketeer.
text: This example does not have the ring- spar mod as later versions did, and I suspect that it is an earlier Grand Central exec.
text: version.
text: Note also in the movie that the 26 still has the fittings for the upper turret installed.
answer_details: author: aviation.stackexchange.com/users/9464/T J Johansen
score: 2
sents: text: Here is a list of surviving B-25 which may provide some references.
text: It looks like Redbull has one that they fly around (arguably for business reasons)
answer_details: author: aviation.stackexchange.com/users/3677/Dave
score: 1
sents: text: I remember Air Spray Ltd., at Red Deer, Alberta, had a highly modified A26 bought from the Mexican government that used to fly around call girls as the interior of the plane had a fully plush white shag carpet everywhere and you could fully stretch out with your hostess.
text: It also had curtained windows in the back area and a bed type platform in the sealed bomb-bay area.
text: It also had an extra long nose cone with a small kneeling shower stall that had heated water pumped from a water tank in the nose section.
text: Just enough for rinsing off.
text: The A26 outside color was white with a nose to tail medium blue stripe half way up and Mexican registration.
answer_details: author: aviation.stackexchange.com/users/17771/Kevin Haan
score: 1

Summary of the answers:
B-25 and B-26 were converted for civilian use after WW2, as seen in the film Cash McCall, because they offered better performance than pre-war planes. Some were even used for transporting call girls. The aircraft in the film is an A-26 Invader.
Yes, these aircraft have been converted for business use. After World War 2, there were lots of them, they were cheap and they performed very well compared to pre-war designs. Many of them were converted for business transport use. The company Air Spray Ltd. purchased a highly modified A26 from the Mexican government. It was used to transport call girls. The aircraft in the film is a modified Douglas A-26 Invader.