Douglas A-26/B-26 Invader

[Chris Kennedy]

N26BP taking off from DVT. It was headed for Falcon Field. Anybody catch it there?

[Jeff D. Welker]

I was able to catch it (thanks Joe) and will post a photo or two later today.

[Chris Kennedy]

Another shot of it taxiing out.

The plane must have some connection with Million Air. It says that on the nose wheel doors and the nose art says "Million Airess."

It used to belong to Bob Pond.

[Joe Copalman]

Jeff, where did it park at Falcon?  Jack was texting me from out there saying he couldn't find it.  Any idea how long it's supposed to be at Falcon?

[Jeff D. Welker]

Full Compliment of Crew Members


Short Final


Piper Flying Cover

[Bubak]

...super Jeff, very nice!!

[Jeff D. Welker]

...super Jeff, very nice!!

Thanks Kaspar. If Joe hadn't sent me a strategic text when he did; I'd have missed it. I office across the street and got there minutes before it made final.

[Chris Kennedy]

Great shot, Jeff, particularly the first one.

You missed the best part, though.

[Jeff D. Welker]

Thanks Chris. Unfortunately, she would not show me her better side - maybe being modest 

Nice nose art. Apparently, this bird was at the Beale air show over the weekend.

[Chris Kennedy]

The model of this one is a little confusing. According to Baugher, it was built as an A-26B, but those had a solid nose. I guess, somewhere along the line, it was restored with the glass nose and that's why it's registered as a B-26C. The Air Force re-designated them as B-26 in 1948. According to Warbird Registry, it's an ex-fire bomber.

During the Vietnam War, On Mark Engineering did comprehensive upgrades on 40 of these and they were designated B-26K. However, the Air Force wanted to operate them out of Thailand and the Thai government didn't allow U.S. bombers to operate from there, so they changed the designation to A-26A, so they were attack aircraft and not bombers. Back to what they were originally.

[Chris Kennedy]

Apparently, the paint job and nose art are relatively new. The web site of the owning museum shows it in several schemes, none of them this one.

http://www.vietnamwarflight.com/aircraft/invader.shtml

It also says this on the site:

39359 has been converted to an A-26C with the installation of a glass nose. It has not been determined when this was done.

[Jeff D. Welker]

I spent some time earlier this evening at the Packard hanger watching them work on "Million Airess". It is their opinion that this is a "B" model which has additional glass (i.e. the nose) from a "K" model. This bird stopped for some ignition work that became an issue on their trip from the Beale show back to Texas. It was very interesting for me to see the radials up close and personal. Each engine has two rows of 9 cylinders each. That's right, 18 cylinders per side - WOW!

I am of the opinion the Packard family are good people. The son running the business now is a third generation radial guru. They do all the CAF radial work and have some interesting projects coming in the future. They also maintain the Bearcat at Falcon and tell me that it is a monster.

The "Million Airess" is supposed to depart sometime tomorrow morning; however, they did not have an exact time.

Sorry about the poor photo of the nose art. The open hanger door and harsh setting sun overwhelmed this nimrod photographer.

[Joe Copalman]

Sorry about the poor photo of the nose art. The open hanger door and harsh setting sun overwhelmed this nimrod photographer.

Ha!  Did you know that "Nimrod" was the callsign used by the A-26Ks during the Vietnam War, or is this just an unintentional pun?

[Jeff D. Welker]

Ha!  Did you know that "Nimrod" was the callsign used by the A-26Ks during the Vietnam War, or is this just an unintentional pun?

I wish I was that cleaver; however, I'm not 

[Lynn Evans]

Really nice photos of a nice airplane Jeff and Chris,