Saturday, January 15, 2011

DOUGLAS A-26 And then came the crazy...

As I said before…WE MAY never know:::…WHY SOMEONE thought it was a good idea to put a DOUGLAS A-26 INVADER WW II bomber atop the Mackie Transport Company building in Oshawa (see: www.flickr.com/photos/78215847@N00/352999167/ )

Something about…I just bought one…let's put it up there…and put you…on the map!

That it did.

And there it sat for 26 years.

WHY I let this guy talk me into going on someone else's roof without asking…

Something about …"I've done it lots of times…if he (the owner) was here…he'd let us, etc."

Okay, then.

However when I'm finally up there with all my camera equipment, I hear...

"Don't go near the bubbles."

"Why?"

…the people inside will see you!"

Oh, well…the contradictions, I did want to see the regionally famous Invader on the roof up close, after seeing it forever from afar since 1979…and it was a great photo-op, also it was probably worth being arrested for—

Currently this A-26 Invader is down south, South Dakota on a US military base being restored to FLIGHTWORTHY condition, according to the Guild, the last Canadian owners.

From Flickrer, bauple58:


Serial #: 44-34659
Construction #:
27938
Civil Registration:
N9163Z
Model(s):
A-26B
TB-26B
Name: None
Status: Restoration
Last info: 2003

History:
National Flight Services Inc, Toledo, OH, 1963-1964.
- Registered as N9163Z.
David Voltz, Phoenix, AZ, 1966.
Aircraft Specialties Inc, Mesa, AZ, 1969-1973.
Kenting Aviation, Toronto, Ontario, 1973-1974.
Struck of U.S. Civil Register May 30, 1974.
Mackie's Moving & Storage Co, Oshawa, Ontario, 1974-1999.
- Displayed on warehouse roof.
David Grainger/Guild Of Automobile Restorers, Bradford, Ontario, Oct. 1999-2003.
- Removed from roof for static restoration.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I just came across this picture of the A-26. Based upon your description, my father flew that in Korea. It was "his" airplane, and it was called "the Badaxian." I have a hand-carved model of it. If you know its location, and whether it is or was undergoing restoration, I'd love to hear about it. I can be contacted at chmorgan2d@yahoo.com