FROM:b25pilot@comcast.net TO:nedscholz@yahoo.com
Saturday, January 21, 2012 10:28 PM
Hi -
I was looking at your website about the Korean War and liked it very
much. A friend of mine and I recently purchased a
Douglas B-26
that has combat history in Korea. It was a SHORAN aircraft with
the 452nd. Bomb Wing, 730th Squadron
and then later with the 17th Bomb
Wing, 95th Bomb Squadron. We want to
restore the aircraft in one of it's original schemes
worn in Korea with
the SHORAN equipment in place. I have attached a detailed history
of the aircraft if you are interested.
We are looking for any
parts, radios, antennas and manuals for the SHORAN modifications to the
B-26. Let me know if you
know of any or where we might look.
Thanks very much.
Steve Penning
b25pilot@comcast.net
History of Douglas
A-26C Invader #44-34313, N119DR
Manufactured by Douglas Aircraft, Long Beach as
A-26B-50.
Construction Number 27592. Manufacture date: April 09, 1945
MILITARY
HISTORY
1945-50- Initially delivered to
Hunter AAF, Savannah, Georgia then to storage at McClellan
AAF, Sacramento, California.
1951 - To Douglas Aircraft, Long Beach to receive latest factory
mods/upgrades.
- To Hill AFB, Ogden, Utah
for further modification prior to being deployed to Korea.
Invader
313 converted to a glass nose "C" model. Both .50 cal turrets
were removed
along with
the aft gunners periscope/hardware and replaced with a SHORAN
receiver-transmitter and navigator's station hardware.
- Ferried to Miho,
Japan June '51 to join 452nd Bomb Wing 730th (Long Beach) Bomb
Squadron
"Rebels." Tech. Sgt. Bill Dawson and Byron "Curly Davis
were assigned
as
313's crew chiefs and then based at Pusan East, (K-9) South Korea.
- 313 became the
personal aircraft of the Squadron Commander and named "Sweet
Eloise II" after his wife. Later was named "Junio" (Spanish for
its June arrival
month?) by Squadron Commander Nevling who had replaced the
squadron's
original Commander.
- December 27, 1951-
Invader 313 took a direct 40 mm hit to its fully loaded bombay
badly
injuring 1st Lt. Raymond Koch (USAF #AO2065993) seated at the
navigator's
station-
table in the aft compartment. Fire, hydraulic failure, partial
control (cable)
failure
forced the crew to divert to K-46, the nearest AFB. 313 was later
ferried to
Miho,
Japan for repairs. Returned to K-9 with a new black paint job to
make the ship
less
visible.
1952 - February 1952- Invader 313 took a 40mm flak hit to its
glass nose which destroyed
its
Norden bombsight and shattered the co-pilots canopy as well.
- The 452nd Bomb Wing
timed out in 1952 and was decommissioned. In May Invader
313 was
reassigned to the 17th Bomb Wing, 95th Bomb Squadron "Kicking
Mules."
It became
the Squadron spare aircraft but nobody wanted to fly "The Magnet" due
to its
notorious reputation for attracting flak and bullets according to 1st
Lt. Fox
who flew
his 50th and final mission in 313.
1953 - July 27, 1953, 313 flew a SHORAN mission over North Korea
on this the last official
day
of the Korean conflict. Invader 313 had accumulated app.
1900 combat hours
in
two years.
1953-57 - To storage at McClellan AFB, Sacramento.
CIVILIAN/AIR
TANKER HISTORY
1957 - Invader 313 was sold at a government surplus auction for
$1,776.00 and received
its FAA civil registry of N5457V.
1958 - Modified for cloud seeding, Watsonville, California.
1959 - Sold to Aero Atlas, Red Bluff, California.
1960 - Invader 313 became the first B-26 Invader of its type to be
modified as a "Borate
Bomber" for firefighting operations. Became Tanker 27.
1961-65 - Sold to Wilson Aviation Industries, Lewiston, Idaho DBA.
Hillcrest Aircraft.
Invader
54V operated as Tanker 20 after being fitted with a hard "B
model" nose.
1965-74 - Sold to Butler Aircraft, Redmond, Oregon. Became Tanker
16 and fitted with
STOL wingtips.
1974-87 - Sold to ConAir, Abbotsford, BC (registered as C-GHLK) and
became Tanker
23. Invader 313
accumulated app. 2000 total hours of fire fighting operations prior to
being retired in
1986.
1987- 88 Invader 313 was donated by ConAir to the Reynolds
Aviation Museum,
Wetaskiwin,
Alberta.
1988-90 C-GHLK was sold to Don Crowe, Victoria, BC. (causing high
drama at ConAir
who donated the
aircraft.) Invader 313 was repainted in the WWII livery of the
319th
Bomb Group A-26
Invaders based at Okinawa, Japan in 1945 with #13 on tail. It was
also refitted with a
"C model" glass nose.
1990-99 Sold to Dennis Hamilton/Canadian Warplane Heritage
Museum, Mt. Hope, Ontario
and Invader 313
was occasionally operated in the air show circuit on the East coast.
1999-2011 - Sold to David Lane, Poway, California. 313 flew with
the San Diego Wing of
the CAF at various Southern
California air shows and then later displayed at the San
Diego Air and Space Museum,
Gillespie Field. Number “19” repainted on the tail.
2011- Present - Invader 313 was sold to Steve Penning and
Phil Gattuso (Black Crow
Aviation, LLC), Santa Rosa,
CA in July 2011. Flown to Santa Rosa on July 26, 2011
after 8 years of being on
the ground in El Cajon, CA
Phil Gattuso and Steve Penning would like to thank the following people
for getting Invader 313 to it’s new home in Santa Rosa, CA:
Dale Miller Kent
Long Bruce
Etchell Clay Gattuso
Sam Penning Joe Gattuso
Paul Penning David Lane
Kevin Eldridge Gina Gattuso Lori
Penning Jack Bazler
Future plans for the A-26 Invader include getting the aircraft
re-certified, further the restoration of the aircraft to represent the
colors it
wore during it’s historic combat time during the Korean War and
to operate the aircraft safely, taking it to air shows to educate future
generations of American Airpower and historic aircraft.
