Douglas A-26 Invader

Now, Moïse Tshombe was recalled from exile to serve as prime minister of the central Congolese government in Léopoldville, or Kinshasa, and Tshombe would go and rehire his former mercenary adversaries to actually spearhead the counteroffensive against the Simbas.

And so operating in tandem with Belgian paratroopers that were dropped during Operation Dragon Rouge and CIA-piloted B-26 Invader attack aircraft, Denard's commandos would go and clear the rebellion across the northeastern Congo.

Denard's forces relieved isolated settlements, broke Simba sieges, and secured key logistical corridors.

They were a really big deal.

While attending high school in Switzerland, Lear became the youngest American to climb the Matterhorn in Zermatt.

In 1968, he pylon-raced a Douglas B-26 Invader in the Reno Air Races, the largest aircraft ever raced at Reno at the time.

At age 28, he was one of the youngest Boeing 707 captains to fly in commercial airline service.

A former Nevada State Senate candidate, John is the son of William P. Lear Sr., designer of the Learjet executive aircraft, the eight-track stereo, and founder of Lear Incorporated, now Lear Siegler Corporation, a large defense contractor.

So what I didn't mention, Michael, is that my objective was to learn how to fly professionally, let the airlines teach me how to fly.

And then I want to go out and be an engineer and work for some company that will allow me to fly their corporate jet because I had time doing that in the A-26, the Douglas A-26.

So that was my real objective.

And then when I found out what the pay was and how much I loved the job and I realized that I really didn't want to be an engineer.

So, 8.5, that is the best score we have so far.

Next, we're going to move on to the A-26 Invader and the P-51 Jersey Jerk.

Now, this was a very strange one, because we were stood in the queue to get into the air show, and they flew over for some reason.

Like, not just once, they did, like, circles over the showgrounds.