March Field Air Museum's P-59A 'Airacomet' 44-22614 was accepted from Bell Aircraft on September 25, 1944 and was assigned to the 412th Fighter Group,located at Muroc Army Air Field. In November of 1945, the aircraft was transferred to March Field where five months later it was removed from service. First used as an instructional airframe at a technical school in Santa Maria, California, 44-22614 later went into storage at Edwards AFB.
In 1980, P-59A Airacomet 44-22614 returned to March Field, this time as a collection of parts on the back of a truck. Dedicated March Field Air Museum volunteers and members of the 452nd Air Refueling Wing began the process of painstakingly piecing the aircraft together. By the early 1990s, the Air Force withdrew, leaving only museum volunteers to complete the task. In 1997, seventeen years after returning to March, P-59A 44-22614, the only remaining
production P-59A in existence, was completed. P-59A Airacomet 44-22614, on permanent display at March Field Air Museum, is on loan from the USAF.
Photo by Bob Nelson on Thursday, August 11, 1994 at the March Air Force Base, Riverside, CA.