Though equipped with inadequate defensive armament and underpowered, the Bolo remained the Air Corps' primary bomber into 1941, and the Japanese destroyed some B-18s during the surprise attacks on Dec. 7. By early 1942, improved bombers like the B-17 replaced the Bolo as first-line bombardment aircraft. Many B-18s were then used as transports, or modified as B-18Bs for anti-submarine duty. Stationed at Wright Field from 1939 to 1942, the B-18A on display was acquired and restored by the museum i

BAM! The Behind the Wings Video Series is back with a new episode. This time Curator Matthew Burchette climbs inside our historic Douglas B-18 Bolo Bomber and even takes a "special trip" to Hawaii to see the crash site of one of the last remaining bombers. | Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum

The B-18 Bolo Bomber was the first medium-sized bomber the Douglas Aircraft Company ever created. It was designed to become a central component of The United States airpower. But after its development, the aircraft was in the shadow of far superior bombers, like the B-17 Flying Fortress. The plane soon became a footnote in American aviation history. By the start of the 1940s, the Bolo was considered underpowered for modern war; the aircraft was deemed unsuitable for the role it had been specific