Aero Vintage Books

Dear Sirs,

I am looking for photos of a couple of A-26s that were
flying on the
west coast in the early 1980's. One was N9150 (still
in CA) which was
supposedly on display at Castle AFB around 1983-84
with different
colors on each side. Navy JD-1 colors on the port, and
USAF
34766 "Mary Jo" on the starboard side (This according
to the Warbirds
Directory). Is there any photographic evidence of said
colors out
there? The other was N190M painted as 434156 with
triangle A on tail,
and named "Show Queen" or possibly "Snow Queen"! It
later went to
Junior Burchinal, and crashed on a ferry flight to
Aero Nostalgia of
Stockton, CA in 1985.

T J Johansen
Oslo, NORWAY

Mr. Johansen,

I have two slides of N9150 taken at Madera in August 1987 while it is marked as "Pretty Patti," nothing of it at Castle. (I'm not sure it was ever at Castle, but???)

I have a slide of the disassembled fuselage of N190M taken at Stockton in June 1986. I believe it was marked as "Snow Queen."

Let me know if I can be of further assistance.

Scott Thompson
sat@aerovintage.com

Mr. Johansen...

I bought N190M in Indio, California January, 1981.
I moved it to Tucson, Arizona for installation of drop tanks. Those appear in the photo taken at Isaac Newton Burchinal, Jr's air museum in Paris, Texas.
In that era, I was a marijuana smuggler. That was my reason for buying the plane...to me, it was a tool.
While in Tucson, someone snapped photos which appeared in Air Classics magazine. It was showcased in an article about smugglers using WWII warbirds. With 'the cat out of the bag,' I traded the A26 to Burchinal for a Lockheed PV2. November 7, 1981, I was arrested aboard the PV2 in Marianna, Florida. Then charged and convicted for 'conspiracy to import and distribute 12,000 pounds of marijuana'. For those 'indiscretions' I spent 5 years in US Federal Prison.
I have one photo that I took the day I bought the A26...I'll try to scan it.
I see that your post is now 9 years old. If you're still interested, my e address is hghnn6@gmail.com
I wish you the very best,
Hugh Yonn