A 26, my favorite plane from WWII and Korea. I've met two men that flew in B26's One was a engineer in the ground loop wonder and the other a bomberier in the renamed A26.Both were from a generation thought to be the greatest Given what's going on around me today I wish that both those men were still with us.
Lot of A-26's were built in Tulsa ,Ok at the plant used to build B-24's. Very advanced plane. These OnMarks were truly badass. Saw a lot of action in 'nam.
Great video, thanks. A26 was always a favourite of mine - it’s good to see a plane designed for a specific job. It’s so aerodynamic and has so much power it really looks like it should be a 400MPH+ machine.
This is a fantastic tour of a lovely aircraft by a loving custodian. It's interesting that the A-26 doesn't get the same press as other WW2 classics like the B-17, B-24, and B-29. I had no idea these were used in Vietnam either. Well done and thanks again for all the awesome content!
They also served with distinction in the Korean War. CIA used them in Angola too, If I'm not mistaken they saw action from both sides of the ill fated "Bay of Pigs" operation in Cuba. At least one was a drug smuggler. Mechanical ills forced it to land in the Texas Panhandle with the pilot nowhere to be found. DEA agents reportedly have said that anytime they intercepted that one, it would go to the deck and leave them behind. And I believe all those mentions were variants that preceded the "K" model upgrades.
I'm building a 1/32 model of this aircraft ( converting the abysmal HB kit into something decent ) and this video answered a lot of referential questions. Thanks very much for providing this excellent video.
He forgot to mention the Hula Girl. Pilot in video "Special Kay’s Chief Pilot answers Your Questions. Kay is invited to a Party" says it is a precision instrument to monitor engine vibration. 🙂🙂
8 50’s, 2 napalms, 2 Mk84’s, cluster bombs, 14 rockets AND a bay full of bombs. Holy explosives Batman that’s a lot of firepower. That’s one bird I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of.
Finally getting to watch this. Love hearing Chuck explain the B-26K. Love the Invader and the Counter Invader is an amazing evolution of an already excellent design. Thanks Erik!
Erik, this is my favorite of your pieces so far! You and Chuck did a magnificent job. The Invader is among my favorite warbirds and a very unsung hero. When the designation was changed from A-26 to B-26 after WW2 (due to a change in mission and the fact that the Martin B-26 Marauders were gone) it created never ending confusion that lives to this day between the Martin B-26 and the Douglas A-26/B-26. I wish I had a dollar for every time I’ve seen a tv documentary that spoke about one aircraft and showed film footage of the other! Special Kay is a wonderful tribute to the Invader and the men that flew and serviced them in WW II, Korea and , as a B-26K, especially Vietnam. Thank you for a wonderful piece of video! 🇺🇸
I bet the pilots absolutely loved the seating position in that cockpit. Those pilot seats nice and high with a big bubble canopy on the top almost like flying a convertible! No doubt you could really see outside and around the aircraft with that large glass canopy. What a beautiful aircraft.
During WW2 when they had the twin .50 caliber turrets they could lock those forward for an additional 4 x 50s for a total of 12 x .50s strafing up the Home Islands. The invader was Douglas's brilliantly evolved light bomber from the concept heritage of Douglas's own A 20 Havoc, proven in parrafrag missions on IJA airfields and skip bombing their transports ... . yes the IJA had it's own fleet of armed transports. I'm surprised the IJA and IJN didn't start a war with each other before starting one with the Allies.. The CIA really did a thorough job of further refining this Douglas attack aircraft..Good subject choice and well done.
Great video Eric. The A 26 Invader is a favorite for me and the work done on these aircraft by On Mark was good. These aircraft were some serious ground support birds.
He didn’t mention the black underside paint. A-26K’s were mostly flown out of Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base at night targeting communist supplies in trucks moving down the “Ho Chi Minh trail” from North Vietnam to South Vietnam through Laos. Even now there is very little man made lights, so navigation around that mountainous terrain at night was challenging. Then you dove in on your target, and pulled out, all the while avoiding anti aircraft fire. None of that high altitude stuff. The crews were very brave and skilled aviators!
[Edited] It was changed to B-26 in 1948, then went back to A-26, to B-26K, and finally A-26A (per Wikipedia, which is the only source I could find quickly when I suspected my original answer was inadequate). The Marauders were all out of service by 1947, so the designation was available. You'll have to ask the Air Force why they kept changing it.
Please do not call this a B26 ... it is an A26....not a B26.... B designation is for medium bomber, A designation I’d for light bomber, all according to tonnage of bombs able to carry.. don’t care that the Air Force tended to call it a B26 ...they are wrong... There’s only one B26... period, that’s the Marauder...the hot rod of medium bombers...
Please don’t call it an I’d for the abbreviation for Identification when it’s really ID. I don’t care if some peoples grammar is incorrect there is only one ID
@@ErikJohnston its a typo due to the "smart" auto correct on ipad.....it is supposed to say IS. but thanks for pointing it out.. still...dont call it a B26 ,...what an insult to the Marauder ...
Replacing previous brief message with a verbose explanation (i.e. now doing this the hard way, GRIN): 1. When introduced the Invader was designated A-26 for Attack. The Marauder was already in service and designated B-26 for Bomber. “Following the end of World War II the U. S. made drastic cuts in all branches…was decided…Air Force was to adopt the A-26 as the standard medium bomber, all other light or medium types (A-20, B-25, B-26) being scrapped or given second line duties. With the abolition of the “attack” category by the Air Force in 1947, the A-26 was redesignated B-26. Also because of the new aircraft coming off the production lines, it was decided to re-classify the Invader as a light bomber.” Source: A-26 Invader in Action, Jim Mesko, Squadron/Signal Publications, 1980. Therefore at the time On-Mark rebuilt the airplane into a K model it was, and is properly designated B-26K, and the B-26K designation is still correct today. 2. Personal bias toward/against one aircraft or another has no bearing on the proper designation of an airplane. Telling someone to change their accurate words (and calling those words an insult) to something inaccurate because of personal bias is inappropriate. 3. In my opinion the history of ALL warplanes must be preserved. The sacrifices of the HEROS that designed, built, maintained, flew, and fought these aircraft in defense of our FREEDOM must not be forgotten! Unfortunately, too many in our society today have no idea what an A-26 or a B-26 is, and especially the have no concept of what was done by so many to give them the freedom they take for granted and in fact don’t even understand. Erik, the Special K team, and so many others like them are working hard to preserve and share our history, and their efforts are greatly appreciated and should be applauded and promoted to as many people as possible!!
@@robbyowen9107 well... technically he is incorrect and correct at the same time.. They did change the designation after the war , and it had nothing to do with the Marauder being retired.. when the air Corp changed to the air force in 1947, this is when they changed it.. but A still is for light bombers , due to tonnage of bombs able to be carried.. and while they did refer to it as a B designation after 1947, the tonnage didn't change , so technically, it's still an A not B .. I just can't stand the marauder being pushed aside and forgotten... she was THE bomber of ww2... way misunderstood and doesn't get the credit due.. just like the P38 vs the mustang..
