Tallmantz A-26C N4815E (44-35505)

The Tallmantz Invader

Ah, the Tallmantz Invader, that ramp rat sitting at Orange County Airport while busy B-25s came and went. Well, it was a case of “always a bridesmaid…” for A-26C N4815E with Tallmantz.

USAF History of A-26C 44-35505

A-26C 44-35505 was built at the Douglas-Tulsa factory and accepted by the AAF on April 24, 1945. It was delivered two weeks later, on May 9, and slated to be ferried overseas for assignment to the 8th Air Force (“SOXO”) through Hunter Field at Savannah, Georgia. However, those plans were hurriedly changed with the end of the European war, and the airplane was instead sent to Moody Field, near Valdosta, Georgia, for, most likely, short term storage. It was moved to Hobbs Field, New Mexico, in December 1945 and placed into long-term storage with about 1,600 other new A-26s and P-51 Mustangs. Hobbs was phased out as a storage field in 1947 and most of its aircraft, including 44-35505, were moved to Hill Field at Ogden, Utah. 

It magically changed from an A-26C to a B-26C in USAF parlance when the USAF was established in September 1947.

It was removed from storage most likely in early 1951 and assigned to the 363rd Tactical Reconnaissance Wing at Shaw AFB, South Carolina. In June 1952, it was reassigned to the 131st Fighter Bomber Wing at George AFB near Victorville, California. It was transferred to the 479th Fighter Bomber Wing in December 1952, still at George AFB. Shortly afterwards, in February 1953, it was assigned to the Tactical Air Command headquarters at Langley AFB in Virginia. It remained attached to various base units at Langley until February 1957 when it was attached to a unit at Andrews AFB in Maryland. At that time, it was redesignated as a TB-26C.

44-35505 was withdrawn from service in 1958 and flown to Davis-Monthan AFB at Tucson, Arizona, for storage. It was authorized for disposal and surplus sale in August 1958.

First Civil Use of N4815E

A-26C 44-35505 was sold as surplus from the USAF from Davis-Monthan AFB at Tucson, Arizona, on May 25, 1959, most likely via auction. It was purchased by Wood River Oil and Refinery Co. of Wichita, Kansas, as one of twenty surplus A-26s purchased at that time by Wood River. This batch of A-26s were registered within a block between N4805E and N4824E; 44-35505 became N4815E.

Shortly afterwards, Wood River Oil and Refinery Co. changed its name to Rock Island Oil and Refinery Co. 

Rock Island had an aviation division that developed the Monarch-26, an extensive modification of the Douglas Invader to an executive transport.  In the end, though, only about seven of 27 Rock Island Invaders were converted, and N4815E was not one of them.

Instead, it was sold to Hamilton Aircraft of Tucson, Arizona, on October 1, 1962. Five days later it was sold to Tallmantz Aviation. 

Tallmantz Modifies A-26C N4815E With a Cinerama Nose

The timeline of the conversion of the Invader is a bit fuzzy. It was purchased in October 1962 but the paperwork documenting the fabrication and installation of the long Cinerama camera nose indicates it was not accomplished until August 1965. That raises the question about why the Invader was actually purchased by Tallmantz. 

Frank Pine and the Tallmantz A-26C

In 1979, Tallmantz President Frank Pine sat back in his chair in his office and just shook his head when asked about the Invader. After a minute, he recalled the time in 1962 when the new company was quite busy with numerous projects. Besides film work, they did much photography for Douglas Aircraft at nearby Long Beach and Santa Monica, shooting new DC-8s and DC-9s for customers and/or company advertisements. Pine remembered that it must have really irked someone at Douglas that Tallmantz was using a competitor’s product, the North American B-25, to fly formation with their airplanes for the photo work. They suggested that Tallmantz convert an Invader for the filming. Patient conversation ensued, explaining that the A-26 wasn’t suited for film work since it lacked a tail gun position for a camera mount, the waist positions were lacking, the fuselage was cramped, and access from the cockpit to the nose was limited. Nonetheless, Tallmantz ceded to the pressure and purchased N4815E in 1962. Tallmantz had a custom-built Cinerama nose constructed to fit the Invader, and the airplane was equipped as best as possible as a camera plane.

Pine recalled that Tallmantz proudly flew their new camera ship on its first flight of air-to-air photography with a Douglas airliner, sure that Douglas would be very happy with them. After a few runs, the Douglas photographer noted that he needed tail shots and the Invader did not seem to have a tail position for him to shoot from. Lacking an alternative, N4815E turned back to Orange County and a B-25 was prepped for the mission. Fini.

That was about as much use as Tallmantz got out of the Invader. It did earn its keep a few times on some specialized military programs that didn’t need the aft camera mounts, or could take advantage of the speed advantage offered by the A-26. As a personal note, in observing operations on the Tallmantz ramp from 1966 to 1977 (when the Invader was sold), I not once saw the Invader fly, nor even have its engines run. The only interest that I saw in the airplane was when someone stole an engine cowling off the airplane.

Tallmantz Sells A-26C N4815E

In 1977 Tallmantz sold the airplane. It first appeared to have been sold to Jim Ricketts, later of Aero Nostalgia fame, but that deal fell through. It was soon sold to Tallmantz employee Al Redick and partner Ross Diehl for a sum in the $10,000 range. Al Redick had the airplane moved over to Chino, no doubt the Tallmantz employees waving a fond farewell to their ex-ramp hog.

Confusing Fate of A-26C N4815E

It was observed on a ramp at Chino in 1977. Redick and Diehl sold it to On-Mark Aviation at Knoxville, Tennessee, on August 30, 1977,just six months after Tallmantz sold it. This appears to have been a different On-Mark than the one that did modifications at Van Nuys on Invaders in the 1960s. President of the Knoxville On-Mark was Harold Beal. Little is known about On Mark but online sources show its president was known as Harold “Bubba” Beal and he and his company purchased and operated several warbirds in the late 1970s including an F7F Tigercat (NX700F) and a Buchon HA-1112-M1L (N700E).

Three months later, on November 11, 1977, On Mark sold N4815E to Air Research and Associates, c/o Unlimited Aircraft, Ltd., back at Chino. Whether it actually ever left Chino in the 1977 and later period is not known. The last sale was never actually recorded by the FAA due to paperwork discrepancies, and the record of the N4815E trails off to dust after this.

Rumor says that N4815E was seized by the government after a attempted drug run south of the border and may have been stored at an airport in New Orleans after that.

Its subsequent history is even more tangled. What is known is that John MacGuire, who organized the War Eagles Air Museum at Santa Teresa, New Mexico, obtained two A-26Cs in the early 1990s, evidently both of them having been seized by the customs people with the U.S. government as suspected drug runners. One was certainly A-26C 44-35493 with the civil registration of N2852G and the other was apparently N4815E. Both underwent restoration at the museum facility in the early 1990s and N2852G was re-registered as N576JB. It remains on display at the War Eagles Air Museum. The registration of N4815E for the other A-26C was never assigned after that 1977 sale to Air Research and Associates, so its paper record stops there. However, it appears that this airframe was sold or traded to the USAF for it is now displayed at the airpark located at Grand Forks AFB in North Dakota.

The curious thing is that A-26C N576JB at the War Eagles Air Museum is painted in the markings of 44-35505 (the serial assigned to N4815E). The A-26C displayed at Grand Forks is carried on the National Museum of the USAF inventory as 44-35493. As displayed at the air park, it is also marked as 44-35493. No explanation is offered for the bit of confusion over the serial numbers. There may have been some mixing and matching that went on in the course of the 1992 restorations. Officially, however, the War Eagles A-26C, N576JB, is carried on the FAA records as s/n 44-35493.

So, we shall say that the fate of N4815E is that it is on display at the Grand Forks AFB air park in Grand Forks, North Dakota, and we are happy that it survived through the many years and many missions for which it was employed