3-engined A-26 Invader N9174Z with Aireasearch
Thu Aug 02, 2007 1:39 pm
That registration now belongs to a balloon. Now with Air Spray as C-GTOX?
http://www.warbirdregistry.org/a26registry/a26-4434523.html
Not my photo by the way...
http://www.warbirdregistry.org/a26registry/a26-4434523.html
Not my photo by the way...
Thu Aug 02, 2007 2:05 pm
Airesearch had 2 Invaders that were modified to carry a test engine in the nose. 1 was sold to Airspray, the othe was donated to the Phoenix union high school distric and is located at South mountain HS in South Phx. It used to be visiable from the road, but it has since been moved, knowing the area, it is prob covered in gang grafitti.
Thu Aug 02, 2007 2:38 pm
that's enough to gag a maggot!!! 
Thu Aug 02, 2007 6:18 pm
tom d. friedman wrote:that's enough to gag a maggot!!!
Amen,
Is that photo real? It looks a little fakeish?
Phil
Thu Aug 02, 2007 6:40 pm
Looks like it was photoshopped to me..... 
Thu Aug 02, 2007 7:03 pm
It is real, Airesearch, aka Garret, is based in Phx and I saw the Invader fly into Sky Harbor many times. They now use a ex airliner with a engine mounted on a stub on the right fwd side of the cabin.
Thu Aug 02, 2007 9:05 pm
Nope, no photoshop or creative manipulation.
The Invader as donated to the school system is still in good shape and cared for, and as of quite recently sans tagging, damage or severe souvenir ravages. Sadly, the corporate donation as made by the firm years ago stipulated that this airframe would NEVER fly again, and in fact, they retained all master logs and aircraft documentation as a way to limit and reduce liability in the litigiuous society we live in today. The donation to the school district almost did not happen, much to the chagrin of a few corporate lawyers for the company who had even suggested scrapping it as method of "asset maintenance" and "liability containment."
Nice airframe - in good shape - and loved by the students and staff who work on her. The staff behind the scene here can be credited with saving this warbird, and they're the ones due the tip of the cap and the raise of the beer glass, guys. (And for the record, I had nothing to do with this... but one needs to direct attention where credit is due. )
This is one of the positive survivor tales of warbirds that happened two decades ago, versus right after WWII. Just about every college and tech school in the country operating from 1945 to 1950 has tales of donated warbirds that were wrenched on by students, and when the instructional work was said and done and the airframes looked a little ragged, the airplanes were given or sold to the scrappers. With few exception they are nothing but a memory.
There were indeed a few smart people on the board at Phoenix Union High School back in the 1990s to push for this old bomber and make it happen for the students. Let's see what happens in the next few decades to this ship. She survived a war, the War Assets Administration purgings, the federal government, and slimey corporate lawyers. Whatever happens to her in PHX by a bunch of interested aviation students can't be nearly so injurious..... hopefully, these teens will be the ones taking over stewardship of the next generation of these airplanes once old farts like me are gone...
The Invader as donated to the school system is still in good shape and cared for, and as of quite recently sans tagging, damage or severe souvenir ravages. Sadly, the corporate donation as made by the firm years ago stipulated that this airframe would NEVER fly again, and in fact, they retained all master logs and aircraft documentation as a way to limit and reduce liability in the litigiuous society we live in today. The donation to the school district almost did not happen, much to the chagrin of a few corporate lawyers for the company who had even suggested scrapping it as method of "asset maintenance" and "liability containment."
Nice airframe - in good shape - and loved by the students and staff who work on her. The staff behind the scene here can be credited with saving this warbird, and they're the ones due the tip of the cap and the raise of the beer glass, guys. (And for the record, I had nothing to do with this... but one needs to direct attention where credit is due. )
This is one of the positive survivor tales of warbirds that happened two decades ago, versus right after WWII. Just about every college and tech school in the country operating from 1945 to 1950 has tales of donated warbirds that were wrenched on by students, and when the instructional work was said and done and the airframes looked a little ragged, the airplanes were given or sold to the scrappers. With few exception they are nothing but a memory.
There were indeed a few smart people on the board at Phoenix Union High School back in the 1990s to push for this old bomber and make it happen for the students. Let's see what happens in the next few decades to this ship. She survived a war, the War Assets Administration purgings, the federal government, and slimey corporate lawyers. Whatever happens to her in PHX by a bunch of interested aviation students can't be nearly so injurious..... hopefully, these teens will be the ones taking over stewardship of the next generation of these airplanes once old farts like me are gone...
Thu Aug 02, 2007 9:26 pm
Geez! Move over maggot, I gotta hurl too! At least they could have painted the turbo nacelle to match the rest of the plane. And I thought the Garrett turbo Beaver was ugly. yeccchh
Canso42
Canso42
Thu Aug 02, 2007 9:48 pm
One last trip down memory lane and I'll shut up from my barstool in the darkened corner.... (such banter can be expected from the old guys in the audience).
For those of us who grew up here in the "Land of Sand" the old A/B-26 Invader test beds were a familiar sight and sound in the skys of Phoenix. Their departure from Sky Harbor and the radial engine sound was certainly distinctive. One knew just by the sound alone they were headed out do some test work on a new turbo prop engine or system, as they'd get to altitude in what was once an aerobatic or practice range outside of the Valley, shut down the -79 R2800s and grind time on one of the new built engine hung on the nose of the ship and run a variety of diagnostics. Research done, the radials would crank up and home she'd head.
Back in the day, it was possible to get a good look at these test beds just parked a few feet behind the fence along Airline Road bordering Sky Harbor, and if no one was looking one could even sneak out there on the ramp for a closer look if the guards weren't looking that way.
That was, of course, back in the 70s and 80s. Try that today and TSA would get you and cover you with 4 oz. + of confiscated toothpaste and hail gel, or the Humane Society will snatch 'ya and put you to sleep (inside joke, I guess, as we had a stray dog run wild on the runways as of late and that was the end result of the canine intruder).
For those of us who grew up here in the "Land of Sand" the old A/B-26 Invader test beds were a familiar sight and sound in the skys of Phoenix. Their departure from Sky Harbor and the radial engine sound was certainly distinctive. One knew just by the sound alone they were headed out do some test work on a new turbo prop engine or system, as they'd get to altitude in what was once an aerobatic or practice range outside of the Valley, shut down the -79 R2800s and grind time on one of the new built engine hung on the nose of the ship and run a variety of diagnostics. Research done, the radials would crank up and home she'd head.
Back in the day, it was possible to get a good look at these test beds just parked a few feet behind the fence along Airline Road bordering Sky Harbor, and if no one was looking one could even sneak out there on the ramp for a closer look if the guards weren't looking that way.
That was, of course, back in the 70s and 80s. Try that today and TSA would get you and cover you with 4 oz. + of confiscated toothpaste and hail gel, or the Humane Society will snatch 'ya and put you to sleep (inside joke, I guess, as we had a stray dog run wild on the runways as of late and that was the end result of the canine intruder).