The Former "Spirit of Waco" A-26 has a new home!

T-28mike · **Posted:** Sun Apr 10, 2011 7:40 am

The Onmark converted A-26's I have played with had an electric driven hydraulic pump with a self contained reservour that would raise the door. Lowering was via gravity, and was "slowed" by means of a bleed orifice in the down side of the system.

CrewDawg · **Posted:** Tue Nov 22, 2011 9:48 pm

There's been a lot going on lately on "Hoodle Head" and I thought that this would be a good time to resurrect this thread. Among other things, it looks like I'm next in the barrel to be the Invader Squadron Maintenance Officer. Squadron elections were held last month and I was the only victim, er uh, nominee for the job. :shock:

All joking aside, I'm actually looking forward to it. It will be good to have an airplane to take care of again. Enough about me, what about the airplane?

Nelson Ezell's guys have completed the rear spar carry through corrossion repair, we also got him to do the nose gear cross brace AD and the altimeter/transponder checks. The 100 hour inspection is done so all that is left is to install the flight controls, check the rigging, do a good preflight and maybe a quick engine run just to make sure everything's ok and then she'll be flying home to the Vintage Flying Museum in Fort Worth where the CAF Invader Squadron is based. I apologize, I don't have any recent pictures yet, but as soon as we go out there and pick her up, we'll have plenty. You can check out our website though http://www.invadersquadron.org/

John Barnwell · **Posted:** Sun Dec 04, 2011 8:37 am

I thought you guys might enjoy seeing "Spirit" in her civies, circa 1965. Known then as "Mr. Cap II", named after the gentleman in the last photo.

On the hangar ramp for group photo.
Shreveport Downtown Airport 1965

Shreveport Downtown Airport 1965

Traveling in style! Folks dressed a little different for travel in the 60's!

Pogo · **Posted:** Sun Dec 04, 2011 12:28 pm

Something I have always wondered about: how were the turrets operated on the A-26? Pretty much like the on the B-29, I'm guessing?

PS: Wonderful photos, John - thanks for posting!

steve dickey · **Posted:** Sun Dec 04, 2011 12:39 pm

Karen, did you deliver any flight controls yet! If so missed ya!

LadyO2Pilot · **Posted:** Sun Dec 04, 2011 1:38 pm

Not yet.....was delayed. Might be this week however I don't think I can come this time

CrewDawg · **Posted:** Sun Dec 04, 2011 7:02 pm

John, thank you for posting those pictures! They are terriffic! I spent some time at Shreveport Downtow in the late '80's when I was stationed at Barksdale, nice airport. I'm sure it's changed now that the casino's are there. Do you have any photo's of the interior? As the new Maintenance Officer on her, I would like to look into possibly paying tribute to both aspects of the A-26's role in aviation history, it's military history and also it's history as one of the first corporate/business aircrraft. It would be great to install a 1950's/1960's looking interior in it with the Korean War era exterior paint scheme. Also, it's reported that during her time with Barnwell that Lyndon B. Johnson and John F. Kennedy both flew onboard "our" A-26. Do you have any information on this?

Once she makes the trip from Breckenrige to Fort Worth, I hope you will make the short trip over to take a tour of her. I would be happy to show you around.

T J Johansen · **Posted:** Fri Dec 09, 2011 5:28 am

I can only echo CrewDawg's request for photos of the interior. I am trying to catalogue all the different set-up's by the exec. Invader owners, and N240P is definately one of them.

By the way, thanks for sharing the photos. This is pure gold!

T J

cwmc · **Joined:** Fri Jan 28, 2011 2:43 am **Posts:** 322

Like so many executive conversions the interior is one thing that was given next to no regard when operating them as "warbirds" in the 70's through modern times. The Kankakee -26 flown to Chino in the late seventies had it's full interior ripped out and dumpstered by the Ackers' crew. There were two with full interiors at Fla-Bob around the same time period, and all were sort of the same seating as shown in the present day picture, with two or three chairs to the rear and a three place couch along the left side. The crawl space to the cockpit being on the right, most having a jumpseat behind the left seater.
The Kankakee -26 was black leather (granted it wasn't in good shape) and vinyl side walls with black carpet (tattered remnants) with galley, potty and interphone sytem forward left. Typically they had fibreglass or plastic window surrounds and some sort of lighting around the waist line or shin line and eyeball vents and reading lights for each seat or bench sofa. The headliners were vinyl or something natural like mohair, and no metal was seen for the most part.
I crawled all through it (On-Mark in Kankakee) when I was visiting family in Kankakee about 1976 and it was open to anyone. My cousin and I threw out all the trash and tidied it up, a partner in the ownership came by to see what we were up to and told us an engine had gone bad and they didn't have the dough to replace it because the prices were so high compared to the airplane's worth. He said they left it open because people just broke the door handle mechanism to get in it anyway!

The idea of keeping a nice executive interior is great, but so few of them have survived. It was expensive to do originally, so when the components are dumpstered (in the name of "warbird" or "originality") I wonder if it takes the likes of Howard Keck to redo one? Repairing an existing exec interior would be much easier and more economical.

Chris...

gary1954 · **Posted:** Sun Dec 11, 2011 6:59 pm

Great old Photos John, thank you for posting these, man what a time....what a time!! :drink3:

John Barnwell · **Posted:** Wed Dec 14, 2011 7:10 pm

I'm looking for some of those interior photos... maybe over the holidays I can locate some. I can tell you it was 4 in club seating in the back with a jump seat by the door, IIRC. Between the spars there was a bench seat and galley and a jump seat behind the pilot and copilot. So, full up, we could put 10 in seats. Most of the trips back then were from Shreveport to Houston, Dallas, New Orleans, Panama City (FL), Calgary, New York, and Chicago. My brother Barney and I were the copilots most of the time, but it wasn't hard to find someone to ride right seat when we weren't available. Bill Boswell was the pilot and did all his training at Flight Proficiency at Love Field (behind Southwest Airmotive at the time... that's a blast from the past!) I'll keep looking and pass along whatever I can find. I'm looking forward to seeing the old girl soon!!

I funny little story...
On a flight to New York once we reported 20 miles outside the marker on the localizer. A Pan Am flight (707 probably) called in and reported to be about 3 or 4 miles behind us. He asked for a vector around the Douglas. The controller responded, "That Douglas is about 20 kts faster that you so if you don't mind, please follow the Douglas to the airport". (He most likely thought we were a DC-3.) That generated a few grins in the cockpit. Gas was cheap in those days and we ran it pretty hard!

gary1954 · **Posted:** Wed Dec 14, 2011 11:15 pm

John Barnwell wrote:

I'm looking for some of those interior photos... maybe over the holidays I can locate some. I can tell you it was 4 in club seating in the back with a jump seat by the door, IIRC. Between the spars there was a bench seat and galley and a jump seat behind the pilot and copilot. So, full up, we could put 10 in seats. Most of the trips back then were from Shreveport to Houston, Dallas, New Orleans, Panama City (FL), Calgary, New York, and Chicago. My brother Barney and I were the copilots most of the time, but it wasn't hard to find someone to ride right seat when we weren't available. Bill Boswell was the pilot and did all his training at Flight Proficiency at Love Field (behind Southwest Airmotive at the time... that's a blast from the past!) I'll keep looking and pass along whatever I can find. I'm looking forward to seeing the old girl soon!!

I funny little story...
On a flight to New York once we reported 20 miles outside the marker on the localizer. A Pan Am flight (707 probably) called in and reported to be about 3 or 4 miles behind us. He asked for a vector around the Douglas. The controller responded, "That Douglas is about 20 kts faster that you so if you don't mind, please follow the Douglas to the airport". (He most likely thought we were a DC-3.) That generated a few grins in the cockpit. Gas was cheap in those days and we ran it pretty hard!

AAHHhhhhhh the good ole days, like I said earlier......man what a time, what a time..... :drink3:

CrewDawg · **Posted:** Mon Dec 19, 2011 9:28 pm

Well, after a lot of trials and tribulations the flight controls will be on thier way to Nelson Ezell's first thing in the morning. We had a lot of work to do to get a good set of flight controls on her, but I think we're finally there. Once we get them there it should take Nelson's crew only a few days to install and rig them. Of course with the Christmas holidays just a few days away, that will add a few days to the mix. So the flight to Vintage Flying Museum in Fort Worth is just around the corner. It will be good to have her in her new home where we can work on her easier.

I will snap a few pictures when I'm at Nelson's tomorrow dropping off the flight controls and post them in the next update.

Stay tuned.....

CaptainAmerica · **Joined:** Sat Dec 31, 2011 12:53 pm **Posts:** 3

T J Johansen wrote:

Is Joe Nemer (Nemmer?) still around? I'd like to get in touch with him on an unrelated topic.

T J

Does anyone have any idea how to contact Mr. Nemmer?

T J

Used to own Nemmer Electric, Waco, TX

CaptainAmerica · **Joined:** Sat Dec 31, 2011 12:53 pm **Posts:** 3

Pogo wrote:

Something I have always wondered about: how were the turrets operated on the A-26? Pretty much like the on the B-29, I'm guessing?

PS: Wonderful photos, John - thanks for posting!

Similar. The turrent gunner sat under the aft upper windows and aimed through a parascope.

FYI The upper turrent on the old Spirit of Waco is a real turrent shell but is a non turning "dummy" that we installed in '89. Nothing extends into the cabin.

The wing and nose guns are dummies also. It always bugged me that the nose guns are the wrong length... real guns installed to that length would not clear each others receivers and feeds.

I haven't been in Spirit since '95 and in a 26 since 2004. Love em.

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The Former "Spirit of Waco" A-26 has a new home!

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