(3d model)

Inside the B-17F Memphis Belle at the NMUSAF in Dayton Ohio

Watch Now!! New Update July 2026!! New Video Released September 1st 2026!!
Lady Liberty: Why the Douglas A-26 Invader Changed WWII History: She Must Be Preserved.

Video Documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x017dxf-x5s

Lady Liberty is a surviving Douglas A-26B Invader with a story spanning World War II, experimental research, aerial firefighting, the Commemorative Air Force, and more than eight decades of American aviation history. Built by Douglas Aircraft in Long Beach in 1944 as U.S. Army Air Forces serial 41-39230, later registered N9682C, Lady Liberty eventually became Tanker 105, a working aerial fire tanker, before beginning another long career as a flying museum aircraft.

This documentary follows the remarkable history of the Douglas A-26 Invader Lady Liberty, from wartime production and service with the Ninth Air Force through her postwar civilian career, research and development work, firebomber conversion, and decades with the Commemorative Air Force. Using original government records, FAA aircraft files, wartime production documents, archival photographs and film, interviews, and original Wingspan Adventures & Flight footage, we separate documented history from some of the legends that have followed this airplane for generations.

A major part of Lady Liberty’s story leads through Rantoul, Kansas, and the aircraft operation of William “Bill” Dempsay. That connection became unexpectedly personal for me. Before I knew Lady Liberty had ever been based there, I had already spent time at the former Dempsay aircraft farm documenting the surviving aircraft, including the old C-54 Skymasters and the recovery and movement of a historic C-47 from the property. Only later, while researching Lady Liberty, did I discover that I had already been walking through a place deeply connected to her own history. During her years with D&D Aero, N9682C was configured for aerial firefighting and operated as Tanker 105.

Lady Liberty would later become something very different: a flying museum. Through the Commemorative Air Force, generations of veterans, families, aviation enthusiasts and young people were able to experience the sound and presence of an operational A-26 Invader. This documentary includes footage of her 2020 departure from Enid, Oklahoma, for the Independence Day flyover over Washington, D.C., along with my own footage of Lady Liberty still flying and appearing before the public in Hutchinson, Kansas, in May 2025.

Then, on November 1, 2025, an incident at Ponca City, Oklahoma changed the direction of her story. What followed became a completely different mission: disassembling an 80-year-old warbird, preparing it for highway transport, and moving Lady Liberty to the Tulsa Air and Space Museum & Planetarium, where another chapter in the preservation of this historic A-26 could begin.

And for sharp-eyed viewers: there is a very brief foreshadowing Easter egg hidden earlier in the documentary. During one transition, something connected to Lady Liberty’s eventual destination appears for only a fraction of a second. It began as an accidental edit, but once I noticed what it had become, I decided it belonged in the film. See if you can find it before reading the comments. If you find it be sure to put it in the comments.

Lady Liberty on her way home.

Lady Liberty being disassembled

Came out in 1964, I got mine in the 70s (cool parents). Classic cover art! And definitely great photos and stories inside, with a chapter on Ploesti too.

Taken a few weeks ago when Sentimental Journey was in town

Thank you for any information.

Curious, why did they opt for a MASSIVE single tail compared to the B-24’s twin tails??