@ Atwater, CA
April 2021
This ungainly looking aircraft is a rare Douglas B-18 Bolo bomber, based on the DC-2 airliner. The Bolo design was essentially that of the DC-2, with a larger wingspan and a deeper fuselage to accommodate bombs and crew. Nose, dorsal, and ventral gun turrets were also added. Shortly after deliveries began in 1937, the Air Corps conceded that the aircraft was obsolete and unsuited for the long-range bombing role. A B-18 was one of the first American aircraft to sink a German U-boat, U-654 on 22 August 1942 in the Caribbean. The B-18 also served with Canadian and Brazilian armed forces during the war. This survivor was surplussed from USAAF inventory in 1944, and was used as a firebomber for many years afterwards.
