The Lady Liberty A-26 Invader

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The Lady Liberty is the oldest flying Invader, the 130th one produced, being accepted in Aug, 1944, at Long Beach, CA. It was flown to Great Dunmow, England arriving 20 Sep, 1944. It was assigned to the 9th AF, 410th BG and began combat operations in early 1945. The 410th was initially assigned 4 A-26?s. Each squadron was given one aircraft. They were painted completely black and initially used as night interdiction aircraft ranging all over Germany. The aircraft is currently painted in 13th AF markings although this aircraft never saw service in Korea. After WWII it was flown to Hobbs, NM and stored. After some refurbishment it was assigned to a USAF Reserve unit for three years. It was declared surplus and sold in 1958. After serving as a radio research aircraft for Texas Instruments in Dallas it was sold to Bill Dempsey in Kansas and used as a fire bomber. Tanker 105 was rarely flown and was eventually sold. It was later seized by DEA for drug running. It was purchased at auction and donated to the CAF. After some time with the Panhandle (Texas) Wing it was transferred to the Nevada wing in Las Vegas. After some restoration it was transferred to the A-26 Sponsorship Group and returned to flight status. In 1999 it was relocated to OKC and now Enid, Oklahoma. It has since been a regular on the airshow circuit.