Airworthy Privateer to Visit EAA AirVenture

Rare Consolidated PB4Y-2 will be on display and in airshow lineup at Oshkosh in July.

Meg Godlewski

Friday, April 10, 2026 at 03:16 PM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

PB4Y-2 Privateer [Credit: Al Sauer]

Key Takeaways:

One of the last airworthy Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateers, a rare World War II bomber, will be on display and participate in an evening airshow at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh from July 20-26.
The Privateer is a B-24 derivative designed for long-range maritime patrol, with only 739 units produced, and saw military service into the Korean War.
This particular aircraft, powered by four Pratt & Whitney R-1830-94 Twin Wasp radial engines, also served as a civilian fire bomber until the early 2000s and has been restored to its post-WWII U.S. Coast Guard livery.

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One of the last airworthy Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateers, among the rarest bombers from World War II, has been confirmed as part of the lineup of aircraft on display at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh on July 20-26.

The Privateer is also scheduled to participate in the evening airshow on July 22.

About the Aircraft

The Privateer has been at AirVenture before and always draws a crowd.

The airplane is a derivative of the B-24, with the key differences being the tail structure and length of the fuselage. It was designed to be a long-range, low-altitude bomber for the Navy.

Introduced late in the war, only 739 were produced by Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corp., and they served primarily in maritime patrol. The aircraft remained in use by the military, seeing action in Korea and domestically until 1955.

The aircraft sports four Pratt & Whitney R-1830-94 Twin Wasp radial engines capable of 1,350 hp each. The engines are air-cooled with 14 cylinders and were chosen because of their low-altitude performance.

During the postwar years more powerful engines were added to the aircraft that served as civilian fire bombers—a career this particular aircraft had until the early 2000s.

The aircraft was restored by GossHawk Unlimited in Casa Grande, Arizona. Today it wears the same livery as when it was used by the U.S. Coast Guard after WWII.