A-26 project - where to sell?

[Stephan Nelle]

The reason for this post is to get advice from you guys for a co-worker and his family. My co-worker is a young engineer whose grandfather is in failing health and has a hangar full of old airplanes and airplane parts. The grandfather is nearing the end of his days and the family is beginning to think about how to deal with (get rid of/sell) the stuff. There are multiple Luscombe fuselages and wings and a Bellanca Viking. Those are easy enough to sell as projects on Barnstormers and are relatively easy to disassemble and transport. The fly in the ointment (and simultaneously, the crown jewel), is a complete, but partially disassembled, A-26 and parts of another, and six total R2800s. The grandfather bought the airplane (N5544V) decades ago, then bought another (partially complete?) for parts. My co-worker told me the grandfather used it and leased it out for firefighting use. The spare airframe had two engines, and he bought two more (supposedly factory new or 0 time overhauls) as spares. It goes without saying that selling an A-26, disassembling and transporting it, is substantially different from getting rid of a project Luscombe that can fit on an 18’ car hauler trailer or in the back of a U-Haul.

I saw pictures from the grandson (my co-worker) six months ago, but I don’t have them handy so I can’t post them with this thread. I don’t remember what things look like but it’s not something you can get to a ferry-able condition in a month’s worth of weekends and fly out; it will have to be trailered out. All of the stuff is at K1D3 in Platte, SD. You can see part of one of the airframes sitting outside from google satellite view.

My question: where should the family start in selling the A-26 and the associated parts? Museums, or Platinum/Courtesy, or places like Barnstormers/Trade-a-Plane, or somewhere else? Do any of you have specific contacts or information that could be helpful (like someone wanting a project A-26)? I am trying to help them out by being able to tell them “To try to sell the airplane, start by talking to these people or by going to this website.”.

I figure this might be a long shot, but I am thankful for any leads I can give to the grandson and family to help them with this.

Thanks very much,

Stephan Nelle

[Stephan Nelle]

test post

[Cvairwerks]

First people that I would talk to is the crew at Courtesy. The family is going to need to gather a bunch of info, photos and copies of log books to start with. An Invader is a big project and need to be marketed by someone that knows them reasonably well and will be the middleman on a sale.

FYI....I've talked with Mark a number of times over the 40+ years I've played with warbirds and he and one of my mentors have been close friends for longer than that.

[OD/NG]

Probably the two best warbird brokers to deal with are the following:


Simon Brown @

https://www.platinumfighters.com/


Mark Clark @

https://courtesyaircraft.com/


They each have excellent reputations in the warbird industry and I know several people who have positive experiences, buying and selling with both.

I've dealt with each of them very casually in regards to inquiries into certain warbirds on behalf of other people and they are both top notch!

Best of luck to your friend!

[mike furline]

http://warbirdregistry.org/a26registry/a26-4435552.html

[Warbirdnerd]

Did the folks at Dover trade it for something else?
https://www.aerialvisuals.ca/AirframeDo ... rial=60080

Last edited by Warbirdnerd on Wed Nov 15, 2023 10:32 am, edited 1 time in total.

[bdk]

Probably the two best warbird brokers to deal with are the following:
Simon Brown @
Mark Clark @

It certainly would be a good idea to contact both of these companies and chat.

Big twins like this are VERY expensive to restore and the A-26 generally doesn't garner a premium compared to a B-25. You may be disappointed with the value they suggest.

You might also consider contacting WIXer Tim Savage as he is a recent A-26 owner.

[OD/NG]

Probably the two best warbird brokers to deal with are the following:
Simon Brown @
Mark Clark @

It certainly would be a good idea to contact both of these companies and chat.

Big twins like this are VERY expensive to restore and the A-26 generally doesn't garner a premium compared to a B-25. You may be disappointed with the value they suggest.

You might also consider contacting WIXer Tim Savage as he is a recent A-26 owner.

Correct. The A-26 is not exactly an extremely high in-demand warbird. Though certainly more rare than a B-25, but they might be worth half as much, maybe a little more. When it comes to the bombers, I think a lot will depend on the condition of the aircraft. If there is extensive corrosion in areas such as the wing spars, it might be cheaper to buy an already flying A-26 than the repair bill to get that one airworthy. If you haven't already, consider getting an A&P/IA who knows A-26's well to check out the aircraft to determine it's condition and economic feasibility for return to flight. IMO, this will be the biggest indicator of potential value on the market. It it's only good for a static rebuild, the potential value will probably be very low and extremely disappointing.

As an aside, A-26's, though rare, are not that valuable, relative to other comparable warbirds. There is a reason that the Collings Foundation has not returned their Korean War combat vet B-26 to flight after a takeoff mishap some 30+ years ago. It just hasn't been economically feasible to finance the restoration.

Hopefully Tim is reading this thread and can give you some great info on the A/B-26, so your expectations will be realistic.

[mike furline]

Did the folks at Dover trade it for something else?
https://www.aerialvisuals.ca/AirframeDo ... rial=60080

I'm guessing there is a typo or some misinformation between the two.

North Dakota N5544V - http://warbirdregistry.org/a26registry/a26-4435552.html

Dover N3428G - http://warbirdregistry.org/a26registry/a26-4435523.html, https://amcmuseum.org/at-the-museum/air ... c-invader/

[Zac Yates]

Please forgive me: which airframe are we discussing (I totally understand if Stephan's not able too say at this time)?

[Warbirdnerd]

Did the folks at Dover trade it for something else?
https://www.aerialvisuals.ca/AirframeDo ... rial=60080

I'm guessing there is a typo or some misinformation between the two.

North Dakota N5544V - http://warbirdregistry.org/a26registry/a26-4435552.html

Dover N3428G - http://warbirdregistry.org/a26registry/a26-4435523.html, https://amcmuseum.org/at-the-museum/air ... c-invader/

The AMC Museum's website gives out conflicting information on the identity of their example...
The description and photos of the recovery clearly point to it being N5544V.

https://amcmuseum.org/at-the-museum/air ... c-invader/

Restoration
In August 2008, Worldwide Aircraft Recovery, the company that has moved several aircraft for us, once again made it look easy. They disassembled the plane in Fargo North Dakota and trucked it to their headquarters in Nebraska, conveniently located near Offutt AFB. The 512th Airlift Wing (the Reserve Wing here at Dover) picked the plane up as part of a training mission for new loadmasters and brought it home. Our restoration crew had the aircraft ready for display before the 2009 Dover AFB Air Show and Open House.

But then this is the History they list for it-

Assignment History
The assignment history for the Air Mobility Command Museum's A-26C Invader, serial number 44-35523 (N3428G):

[Xrayist]

This is just a thought. Instead of selling all the parts/pieces as a group, you might part them out. If there is indeed 0 time R2800's, I would think those and any other R2800 parts would be easy to sell. A recent article in Air Classics talks about the scarcity of the "round" engines, especially the more common ones. As for the rest you might consider sales value vs. donation value. I am not sure, but the
B-26K that had the landing accident, if it is a non profit group, might be able to use donated parts off of the airframes you have. If you don't wish to donate, or they are not non profit, contact them anyway and see if they would be interested in any of the items. Just a thought.

[Stephan Nelle]

Thanks for all the replies!

I've noticed Invaders being relatively low-value warbirds. I will pass on to the family to not have artificially high hopes.

Thanks for the names at Courtest and Platinum. I will pass those along.

It does seem like there is some conflicting information online about which airframe is which and its location. I am honestly not sure which airplane serial numbers the grandfather owns, neither for the complete nor parts airplanes. I believe the grandfather's name is Duane Sly, as mentioned here: https://www.aerialvisuals.ca/AirframeDo ... rial=60080. One of the pictures the grandson showed me was of the complete (yet disassembled) airframe inside a hangar, painted in the firebomber colors with N5544V on the side of the fuselage. So there's some sorting out to be done there on the family's end to figure out what they have. I don't know anything about how complete the logs are for the airframes, engines, and props.

I had also wondered about splitting up or parting out as opposed to selling as a lot, particularly with regard to the engines. I don't know if the supposedly 0-time engines are in cans or what. I hope/assume they are pickled/preserved.

I'll show this thread to the grandson and maybe he can chime in, or pass some info on to me so I can update the thread.

Thanks again for the help and suggestions. They are appreciated.