Some famous airplanes have become notorious because of the missions they've flown. Others, though, are notable because of the people who've called themselves passengers on board. Howard Hughes and Elizabeth Taylor ring a bell?
Say hello to Miss Hap, a North American B-25 Mitchell with a more checkered history than some airplanes that flew only one historic mission. Unlike Enola Gay, Miss Hap was used, abused, and kept flying throughout the war and decades after. It's the oldest example of the Mitchell bomber left in existence, but that doesn't even scratch the surface of the stories this twin-engine plane hides within its cockpit.
Miss Hap rolled off the production line at North American's production plant in Inglewood, California, directly adjacent to where LAX airport stands today. It was part of a batch of 24 bombers that were the first built for the US Army Air Corps as a part of a federally mandated preparation for what felt like an inevitable global war.
Alas, front-line strategic bombing was not in the cards for Miss Hap. In 1942, it was returned to Inglewood for conversion into a VIP transport role. Upon completion, the bomber was presented to the Commander of the Army Air Forces, Henry "Hap" Arnold, hence its name. Miss Hap served as Hap Arnold's personal transport while tending to business within the continental United States.
The airframe was replaced with a new B-25J variant in 1944, at which point, it was stricken from Army Air Force records and transferred into the civilian market. It's here where most good stories about vintage warplanes come to an end. Either to be stored forever in a museum or sold for scrap to the highest bidder. But like strategic bombing over Europe, that wasn't in the cards for Miss Hap either.
Photo: Benny Kirk
Instead, the aircraft was allowed to transfer into the civilian market. Where it'd be purchased not by some no-name wealthy person who made their fortune in something mundane like banking or real estate. Instead, it was purchased by the eccentric, brilliant, and some would call completely insane businessman and engineer Howard Hughes.
It's said that Howard Hughes, a bit of an Elon Musk-like figure in his day, used Miss Hap to fly the actress Elizabeth Taylor to take care of matters soon after her third husband Mike Todd's tragic death in a plane crash in a Lockheed Lodestar private plane. Boarding a private airplane after your husband had just recently died in one may seem strange to some.
Evidently, not to Taylor, who sat next to Hughes in Miss Hap as she tried to come to terms with the loss of her husband. But those that grew up watching her movies know Taylor never went with the status quo. She made Taylor Swift's life seem positively mundane.
Miss Happ would go on to fly with a number of different private collectors until it was purchased by the eccentric businessman and owner of the Avirex flight jacket and aviation clothing company Jeff Clyman. Mr. Clyman then donated the historic aircraft to the American Airpower Museum on the grounds of the former Republic Aviation Factory Farmingdale in the Long Island region of New York.
Photo: American Airpower Museum
Being one of the world's few living aviation museums, Miss Hap and many of the two dozen other planes on display in its main hangar still fly semi-regularly. Arrive at the right time, and you may even see a group of technicians prepping Miss Hap for its next flight. When Miss Hap does take to the sky next, rest assured we'll be there to show you. Check back for that sometime in the near future, right here on autoevolution.
Editor's note:
Gallery contains self taken and official photos used with the permission of the American Airpower Museum. This article was not supported or endorsed by a third party.
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