B-25J-25-NC SN 44-30077

History

The B-25J-25 SN 44-30077 was completed on December 7, 1944 three years after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. She was test flown by North American test pilot Dale Madsen on December 6, 1944 for 180 minutes. During that time he made 3 take off and landings in her. She was flown to Eglin Field, Florida for use by the base administrative unit. The function of the base unit at Eglin was in support of the base proving grounds command. She also doubled as a proficiency and utility aircraft while assigned to the 610th Base Unit at Eglin. She remained at Eglin until July 1946 when she was flown to South Plains Field, Texas for storage. Assignment to South Plains was short lived and she was moved to Pyote Field, Texas where she was again put into storage in July 1947. In July 1952 after five years inactive she was recalled from Pyote Field and assigned to 4th Air Force Headquarters at Hamilton Field, California for utility and administrative duties. In 1955 she was assigned to the 2500th Air Base Wing at Mitchell Field, New York where she remained until retired in 1957. At Mitchell Field she was used for administrative duties including Air Force recruitment and promotional programs. In December 1957 she was flown to Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona and formally retired. She was declared surplus in April 1958. The following summary of assignments are listed on her record card:

Base Assignments

She was sold surplus to a buyer in California in October 1958. Then, she was resold to a new owner in Colorado in 1960 where she was flown very little over the next several years. Maintenance had been performed on her to bring her up to flying standards prior to being sold to Avery Aviation of Greybull, Wyoming in 1960. Acquired by Avery Aviation she was added to their fleet of tanker aircraft. In the early 1960s, she was converted to an agricultural sprayer. She was active for a short time in the early l960s but was eventually grounded at Greybull. She was still idle at Greybull in l968 when Filmway and Paul Mantz obtained it for the film "Catch 22". Three of the movie B-25s came from this grounded Greybull fleet of B-25s. During the movie she carried the tailcode of 6Q and the noseart of "Denver Dumper" complete with toilet. With the completion of filming in Mexico in 1969 she was retained for a while by the Tallmantz Corporation but was eventually sold in l972. In the summer of 1975 she was back flying in a bare metal finish with tail code 9G representing the 489th Bomb Squadron of the 340th Bomb Group.

There was some questionable ownership in the late 1970s and rumors proved true when she was confiscated by the government for drug running in 1978. She was sold at an auction in Florida after the 1978 confiscation. After passing through several additional owners she was acquired again through a sheriff sale, this time by the Georgia Historical Aviation Society based in Stone Mountain, Georgia. She was ferried back to Georgia for restoration work at the museum. In 1980 the glass nose was replaced with a solid nose and she was repainted in an overall olive drab scheme. The turret was removed and the aircraft was now named "Mouthy Mitchell". She was made airworthy and the museum was ground testing the aircraft on Memorial Day 1981 for a planned flight. While on the taxi test the emergency braking systems failed and the aircraft veered off the taxiway into a ravine at Stone Mountain Airport, Georgia. The damage assessed by the museum indicated she would require a new center section. With this major expense hanging over the aircraft she was towed back to the museum buildings and left in a damaged state for the next three years.

In l984 she was acquired by Tom Reilly and trucked to Reilly Aviation in Kissimmee, Florida for a future rebuild. Some restoration work was done on the aircraft over the next 20 years. In 2006 Tom Reilly moved his restoration work to Georgia and sold much of his stockpile of aircraft and parts in Florida and she was purchased by Aero Trader and moved to California. Shortly after her arrival Aero Trader was contracted to restore a B-25 for the Pacific Aviation Museum at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The initial candidate 44-31504 which had been on display at Hickam Field in Honolulu was found to be too badly corroded and 44-30077 was the basis for a new rebuild for the museum. The display aircraft is made up of the forward and rear sections of 44-30077 with the center section from 44-28765 and the wings from 44-30627. The new display aircraft was shipped to Pearl Harbor and put on display as 40-2261 at the new museum located on Ford Island, Pearl Harbor. 44-31504 was traded back to Aero Trader as part of the deal in this restoration process.

• Model: B-25J-25-NC
• Serial Number: 44-30077
• NAA Mfg. Number: 108-33352
• FAA Registration: N2849G
• Mfg. Plant: Fairfax - Kansas City, Kansas
• Completion Date: December 7, 1944
• Delivery Date: December 8, 1944
• Status: Static
• Owner: Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum
• Location: Hololulu, Hawaii
• Website: https://www.pearlharboraviationmuseum.org/
• Notable info:

This page represents the most current information we have on this aircraft. The information above was last updated 09/2020 with information provided by Bob Haney. Our goal is to have the most current and correct information possible. If you have any information about this aircraft not listed here or see anything posted in error, please contact the B-25 History Project so we may update our records.