Ice Pilots 3

[Lynn Allen]

Lance is putting an order together for the 3rd season dvd set so give him a shout...

http://spitcrazy.com/retail.htm

or

519.745.2661

[K5DH]

Historic Aviation now offers Ice Pilots NWT seasons 1-2-3 on DVD at $39.95 per season, plus postage.

http://www.historicaviation.com

[Lynn Allen]

Lance never put an order together so I ordered mine through the Ice Pilot web page and its on the way..

[Lynn Allen]

I received season 3 very quickly and was watching the dambusters and notice a film they were watching where a A-26 was trying to drop the bomb only for it to bounce up and take the tail off. Does anybody have any intel as when and where that was?

TIA,

Lynn

[CAPFlyer]

In my A-26 book, it says the incident happened in the Gulf of Mexico near Panama City, FL. The tests were being conducted out of Eglin airfield. There were actually 2 such incidents with the modified A-26C. The first occurred on 24 April 1945 when they made multiple drops from altitudes of 6-10 feet. One release cleared by 3 feet, 1 by 10 feet, and the third by what was estimated to be less than 6 inches. This last one also dented the modified bomb-bay doors when the water splashed up by the first bounce hit the airplane. After this, they set a minimum release altitude of 15 feet. However, on 28 April, the test pilot inadvertently released the bomb at an altitude of approx. 9-10 feet flying over seas of approx. 3 feet. The bomb ricocheted off the face of a wave, struck just aft of the ventral turret and emerged in the vicinity of the tail surfaces. The tail then separated in a split second and the plane pitched forward and crashed.

That is summarized from the entry in Warbird Tech Vol. 22 - Douglas A-26 Invader by Frederick A. Johnsen. He sources several letters and reports, including the Final Report, Army Air Forces Board Project No. 4480C471.6.

Unfortunately, the book does not show a picture of the airplane sufficient to give it's serial number nor is it listed within the text.

[Chris Brame]

From accident-report.com:

450428 A-26C 43-22644 FT WALTON 3 MI NE, FL

Which led to Baugher:

22644 crashed into Choctawhatchee Bay, FL Apr 28, 1945 while dropping Highball?Speedee bouncing bomb.

[Lynn Allen]

Thanks, even Arnie saw it coming before it happen. I think its the same a/c as the first clip shows it just missing and the 2nd one shows it finding the tail section...