Air & Space Smithsonian – September 2019

Built to drop

bombs, an

A-26C/B-26C

Invader owned by

Steve Penning and

Phil Gattuso has

spent most of its

operational life

fi ghting fi res.

KOREANWARVETERAN– DOUGLASB-26C

StevePenningandPhilGattuso’sDouglasA-26C

Invader,serialnumber44-34313,rolledoffthe

assemblylineatLongBeach,CaliforniainApril

of1945,toolatetoseeactionintheconflictit was

builttowin.Itwentstraightintostorageuntil

Koreabeckoned.Beforebeingdeployed,Invader

313 wasconvertedintoa glass-nosedCmodel,

its.50-calturretsreplacedwitha SHORAN(for

“ShortRangeNavigation”)receiver-transmitter.

Theinstrumentmeasuredtheairplane’sdistance

fromvariousground-basedbeaconsandenabled

(relatively)precisenocturnalbombingruns,par-

ticularlyintheearlymonthsof1953.(MiG-15s

hadmadedaytimebombingverydangerous.)

Invader 313 wasnicknamed“SweetEloiseII”

andthen“Junio”byvariouscommandersinthe

452ndBombWing,730thBombSquadronwhile

stationedatPusanEast,SouthKorea.Butbythe

timeit wasreassignedtothe17thBombWing,

95thBombSquadronin1952,itspropensityfor

absorbing40mmflakhadearnedit a lessendear-

ingnickname:“TheMagnet.”Withanall-black

paintjobtomakeit a lessinvitingtargetonnight

missions,Invader 313 continuedtoflythroughthe

lastdayoftheKoreanconflict,havingacquired

1,900combathoursovertwoyears.

Likemanysurplusedmilitaryaircraft,Invader

313 knockedarounda lotafterthewar.It hada

briefcareerincloud-seedingbeforeit became,in

1960,thefirstB-26ofitstypetobemodifiedfor

firefightingoperations,a missionit wouldperform

forvariouscompaniesfor 20 years.TheCanadian

outfitConAirdonatedit totheReynoldsAviation

MuseuminAlberta,whichinturnsoldit toa

privatecollectorinVictoria,BritishColumbia.

Invader 313 waspartoftheCanadianWarplane

HeritageMuseumformostofthe1990s,making

occasionalappearancesontheEastCoastfly-in

circuit.

OnceDavidLaneofPoway,Californiabought

it in1999,theB-26oftenflewwiththeSanDiego

WingoftheCommemorativeAirForceandwas

displayedattheSanDiegoAir& SpaceMuseum.

PenningandGattusoboughtit in 2011 andspent

sevenyearsrestoringit.It returnedtotheairin

April2018,onceagainwearingitsKorean-era

markings.It seemsappropriatethat313,which

foughtfiresfor 26 years,wouldendupinthehands

ofa one-timefirefightingpilot.(He’sa partner

ina corporateaviationfirmnow.)“Inthe1980s

I lovedthewarbirds,andallthefirebomberguys

werestilloperatingmilitaryairplanes,”Penning

says.He’ssurethatwithoutthosefirefighting

companies,Invader 313 wouldn’tstillbeflying.

September 2019 AIR&SPACE 39

COURTESY STEVE PENNING