Aero Vintage Books

12-O'lock High is now on Amazon with pretty clear print (however, you can not do a screen saver)

S3E02 Massacre about 6:03 into the flick is a shot of PB4Y-2 with all turrets and radar equiptment still installed - but with a civil tail marking (N6637)

BuNo 66337 is a Goose so that eliminates Navy numbers.

N6637 does not show-up on Warbird Registry - there is a single PB4Y-2G (ex Hondorus) last registration is 37C but all photos show her stripped of turrets.

You can also see clearly on some of the frames the words EXPERIMENTAL in front of the bomb bay

So, who is she

Buno 66317 is a PB4Y-2 that was surplused, but never registered. I was guessing that someone added an N in front of the Bureau number for a ferry permit. The fact that it shows up in an episode of 12 O'Clock High is very intriguing. Would really like to know what happened to this aircraft. My guess is someone put the bootleg N number on it, then flew it somewhere and removed the 1830-94s to upgrade a pair of DC-3s (which was a popular mod at the time). But the fuselage had to sit around from some time unless it was immediately scrapped.

Another clue in the Mystery of Privateer 66317. Thanks, Dave!