By LUISA YANEZ

The 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion -- the CIA-backed effort to topple Fidel Castro -- proved to be a stunning failure.

But now, an air attack mission staged during the heat of battle is being singled out for its success and honored with a painting depicting the bravery of those who took part in "the Lobo Flight.''

On Tuesday, the Pensacola artist whose oil painting is now on display at a gallery at the CIA's Langley, Va., headquarters, will be in Miami-Dade County to unveil prints of his signed work.

And several local veterans of Lobo Flight will be at the ceremony to add their signatures to the prints. Among them: Antonio Soto, Mario Zuñiga, Gustavo Ponzoa and Gustavo Villoldo.

''The Lobo Flight mission was probably the only success of the entire invasion,'' said Jeff Bass, who was commissioned by Compass Bank in Alabama to paint the fight scenes and spent a year interviewing pilots and Bay of Pigs veterans.

The Lobo Flight, which lasted all of 20 minutes, was made up of six B-26 twin-engine bombers piloted by CIA-contracted American pilots and Cuban exiles. They flew over the island on April 18, the second day of fighting.

The old bombers, disguised to look like Cuba's, swooped down on Castro's forces on the ground, dropping bombs and killing as many as 900 soldiers and disabling up to 40 military vehicles.

The Lobo Flight, Bass said, is credited with reducing the number of fatalities for the U.S.-backed forces.

But by the next day, the CIA-trained Cuban exiles who invaded the island were captured or wounded.

The Lobo Flight crews made it safely back to Nicaragua, a staging area for the invasion.

Also attending Tuesday's ceremony will be Janet Ray Weininger of Miami-Dade, whose father, Thomas ''Pete'' Ray, was shot down during the final day of the invasion.

The public is invited to the unveiling of the prints at noon at Havana Miami Restaurant, 8800 SW 56th St.

The prints can be purchased for $125.