USAF 4925 TG (A) North American B-25J Mitchell

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The North American B-25 Mitchell is a medium bomber introduced in 1941 and named in honor of a pioneer of U.S. military aviation, Brigadier General William “Billy” Mitchell. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served in every theater of World War II, and after the war ended, many remained in service, operating for another four decades. Produced in numerous variants, nearly 10,000 B-25s were eventually built, At the end of production the B-25 was the most-produced American medium bomber and the third most-produced American bomber overall.

North American Aviation manufactured the greatest number of aircraft in World War II. The company produced the AT-6/SNJ Texan/Harvard trainer, the B-25 Mitchell bomber, and P-51 Mustang fighter all at the same time. The B-25’s were produced at both North American’s main Inglewood plant and at the Kansas City, Kansas, plant located at the Fairfax Airport. The B-25J was produced primarily at the Kansas City plant and was a cross between the B-25D and the B-25H. The aircraft had a transparent nose, but many of the delivered aircraft were modified to have the eight gun “strafer” nose. Most of its 14–18 machine guns were forward-facing for strafing missions, including the two guns of the forward-located dorsal turret. The J series was the last factory series production of the B-25 and 4,318 models were manufactured.

The 4925th Test Group was a United States Air Force unit that was last assigned to the 4901st Support Wing (Atomic), at Kirtland Air Force Base, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Designated the 4925th Test Group (Atomic) on 1 July 1951, the unit was known as the “The Megaton Blasters”, and was responsible for the developmental flight testing of all USAF nuclear weapon delivery systems including conducting live test drops from 1951 through 1956. Following 1956 the 4925th focused on operational methods and equipment for delivering nuclear weapons. It was shut down on August 31, 1961 after it was inactivated by the Air Force Systems Command. The components of the 4925th’s mission were distributed among other units.

In 1957 a North American B-25J was assigned to the 4925th Test Group at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The aircraft was used for administrative and testing purposes including being used as a chase plane equipped with special camera equipment during weapons testing.

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