Lady Liberty A-26 To Go On Display at Tulsa Air and Space Museum

Violet Hassler
Enid News & Eagle, Okla.
(TNS)

ENID, Okla. — The Lady Liberty A-26 bomber, which has called Enid home since 2012, is moving this summer to her forever home at the Tulsa Air and Space Museum in a full-circle moment.

The bomber, which is part of the national Commemorative Air Force (CAF) and the featured plane for the Enid-based Lady Liberty Squadron, was damaged during an aborted take-off when the nose-gear failed Nov. 1, 2025, at the Ponca City airport.

Since that time, the CAF has worked with members of the squadron to find the best home for the aircraft that will honor the plane’s heritage and, in the best outcome, allow her to continue her mission of education.

‘Inspire the future’

“We’re really excited about it,” Tonya Blansett, executive director of Tulsa Air and Space Museum (TASM), said on the acquisition of the Lady Liberty. “We love the aircraft, we love working with the Enid squadron.”

When squadron members learned their Lady would not fly again after the accident, they reached out to TASM, asking if they were interested.

“Part of my job is to look down the road, long before this (accident) happened,” said Henry Klempan, Lady Liberty Squadron leader. “We’re operating an aircraft that’s decades old and nothing lasts forever … what kind of place would we want to send Lady Liberty once her flying days are done? So TASM was a good potential option that we recognized a long time ago.”

Lady Liberty is no stranger to the museum, which is located on the grounds of Tulsa International Airport. Squadron members have flown her there in the past for STEM programs and donor events, like period dances, Blansett said. Many have danced the swing under her wings, she said.

In fact, before the accident, the Enid squadron had scheduled dates to participate this coming fall with the museum’s STEM program, which hosts 35,000 students a year.

Ultimately, Blansett said, any sale to the museum was the decision of the CAF, which did offer the plane to the museum.

“We just want to restore her the best that we can, obviously not back to flying status, but to a very good static display, where she can still serve her purpose to honor the past and inspire the future,” she said.

Grand plans

Plans are in the works to build a hangar to provide a home for a plane the size of the A-26 Invader, which was considered a light bomber and a ground-attack aircraft, depending on the era in which it was being utilized.

“I’m hoping that that is done later this year or next year,” Blansett said, “and as soon as our new hangar is built, she will have her forever home inside that new hangar.

“She’ll be part of a World War II exhibit with some other World War II aircraft that we are expecting to also put in that hangar. And so the A-26 has a very specific connection to Tulsa. There were several aircraft manufacturing plants across the country, manufacturing aircraft during World War II, and the A-26s were built in a few different locations, including Tulsa.”

While this particular plane was not produced in Tulsa, she will represent others that were, and another exhibit about that history and connections with Rosie the Riveter and Native American manufacturing involvement are being planned, as well, Blansett said.

“TASM was a good potential option that we recognized a long time ago, so we feel good about her going there, about the acquisition,” Klempan said, adding it’s a perfect place for Lady Liberty to “start her next chapter of her life.”

“I think she’s got a lot more to offer,” he said.

The plane’s crew members through the squadron also want to continue the story of the bomber as they are able to travel to Tulsa and help with the STEM program.

Extra-wide load

Blansett said the move from Ponca City, where the plane has been since the accident, will happen in mid-July, with the bomber set to arrive at the museum on July 20. A company in Tulsa, Taylor Crane & Rigging, that specializes in moving planes will oversee the process.

The Lady Liberty Squadron members have been working to disassemble parts of the plane, but the disassembly, and re-assembly of the wings, which include a 16-foot span where the engine is housed, will need a crane from Taylor.

“One of the particular characteristics about this aircraft, about the A-26, is that the engines are mounted in the wings, and where those engines are mounted in the wings it’s 16 feet wide, and there’s no way of getting around it,” Blansett said. “So, we’re having to hire a special company that can transport the wings on a truck that’s 16-feet wide, because that’s like an extra-, extra-wide load, and that takes a whole different set of insurance and a whole different set of Department of Transportation permits, and so there’s a high degree of logistics.”

Also, the museum must work with airport guidelines once back in Tulsa. All of the logistics of the move comes with careful planning — and expense.

Helping, celebrating

A special page on the museum’s website — https://www.tulsamuseum.org/ladyliberty/ — has been dedicated to the Lady Liberty, and the public can learn more about the plane and the future plans, follow the progress and donate to help offset the costs. The museum has established the Lady Liberty Heritage Squadron, a dedicated preservation initiative created to restore, preserve and celebrate the Douglas A-26 Invader.

Blansett said the plane will be available for the public to view almost immediately upon arrival on the grounds of the museum. Their volunteer staff, which includes several with backgrounds in aviation mechanics, will work on restoration, and she said she hopes the plane will be available for the STEM program this fall with the help of the Enid squadron, as originally planned.

A 1940s Hangar Dance and Dedication Ceremony for the Lady Liberty will be held at the museum on Sept. 26 and will feature a live swing orchestra, historic aircraft displays, the hangar dance and veteran recognition. 1940s attire is encouraged. Doors open at 5 p.m., with the dedication ceremony at 6:30.

Blansett said the A-26 is one of few planes that participated in WWII and Korean and Vietnam wars.

Squadron future

The Enid squadron plans to keep the name of Lady Liberty Squadron to honor what started it all as they seek another aircraft as part of the Commemorative Air Force to be their flagship craft. Klempan and others in the squadron hope that will happen this summer.

Meanwhile, the squadron, which has its own STEM program, has been receiving assistance from Vance Air Force Base, which has been providing aircraft and pilot assistance during the programs at Enid Woodring Regional Aiport, where the squadron is based.

“I’d like to just give a nod to our team at Lady Liberty,” Klempan said. “We want to stick together, no matter what we fly from here on, and we want to keep engaging with the public about the era that we represent, and the people of that era and what accomplished as a nation.”

He said a large part of all what the squadron has and will accomplish comes with assistance from the Enid community, and through local to federal support from organizations such as Park Avenue Thrift, Oklahoma Department of Aerospace and Aeronautics (ODAA) and Vance. There is so much support from the Enid area, Kemplan said, and so many organizations, businesses and organizations that are a part of that process.

The squadron is grateful and excited about its future.

“We’re looking forward to … whatever (aircraft) we get into next … trying to inspire the next generation, honor the warriors and those who have given so much to keep us free — to educate, inspire, and honor.”

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