B-26K Counter-Invader Restoration ("Special K")

[A26 Special K]

While I was stuck in NJ for a couple of weeks, the guys soldiered on with the restoration. Here you can see they are enjoying a lunch break at the Colonial restaurant and sending me a big Texas howdy. We affectionately refer to it as the "Colonic", but that is after somebody didn't know how to spell Colonial ... and well, it sorta stuck. Has nothing to do with the food. It is good. Sometimes when Hawkeye or moi are out of town, it is a little quicker to run to the cafeteria. Anyway, if you ever come visit us on Saturday and we invite you to go eat with us at the Colonic, don't be afraid. It's all good. Glad to be back in the Republic, JR

[A26 Special K]

Of course, our floor mgr, Inu, didn't get invited to go eat with the boys. Somebody had to stay behind and mind the store. He is looking a little dejected, but I am sure that he was brought back some snacks to tide him over. Looking forward to seeing him on Saturday. We got our new Conex for parts storage at the hangar today so looking forward to seeing how we can best use that as well. JR

[A26 Special K]

How bout this? The newly overhauled brake assembly is now on the left main gear. Whoohooo... The real JR reports that the main wheels have been overhauled and new tires mounted. AND, another big milestone, the left gear was cycled up and down hydraulically for the first time last weekend. The other JR

[A26 Special K]

Attention now goes back to the nose gear compartment. While the nose gear itself was overhauled, the actuator remains to be done and the compartment stripped of paint. The right main wheel well is about stripped so the blaster with the new plastic media can be moved over to the nose wheel area probably this coming Saturday. Progress continues! JR

[A26 Special K]

Now you see it!

[A26 Special K]

Now you don't! Yay, it goes up and down like it is supposed to go. JR

[A26 Special K]

And these are some of the guys who made it work! They built a hydraulic mule specifically for our system so it can be used to run the gear individually. Not bad engineering!!! Thanks guys! JR

[A26 Special K]

Our man Stan is starting to put hardware back on the newly painted pilot's side instrument panel. Our avionics guys are still in the planning phase of trying to figure out how to keep the panel looking original, but install modern radios etc. Will be very interested in seeing how that comes out. Speaking of, Valentines Day is coming up soon. We have some special offers for DC-3 rides in conjunction with this most romantic time of the year. Check out our website for more details. Contact Dana via email to book a flight..... and be sure to let her know if you are planning anything special like asking your sweetheart to marry you. We have been very successful with marriage proposals during the Xmas flights so ... we can't wait to see how this turns out as well. http://www.gga1.org JR

[A26 Special K]

The Aviall guys have put the finishing touches on the overhaul of our two main wheels and mounted the new tires/tubes. They came out looking like a million dollars! We are certainly proud of these and deeply appreciate the job they have done on them. We hope these remain good for a long, long time!! We also appreciate Goodyear's help on the main tires. Still looking for 36SC ribbed nose tires though if anybody has a lead. Thanks, JR

[A26 Special K]

On another note, we are sad to learn of the passing of Capt. Paul Marschalk, a member of the 609th Special Operations Squadron, the Nimrods. Paul had been to visit Special Kay a couple of years ago with his Nav and we are very lucky that Hawkeye got to video them together in the cockpit. He also captured some of their stories on tape. Paul was a real supporter of the A26 Legacy Foundation and helped get the ball rolling on preserving the airplane. He earned several medals including the DFC in the VN war while flying the A26 out of NKP over Laos at night. Undoubtedly deserved more medals as did all of these guys but the secret of their operations was held too tightly until many years after the war ended. Our condolences go out to the family and friends. Burial will be at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery at Point Loma, CA with full military honors. The date has not been given yet. RIP, Paul... give those angels some lessons on flying tight formation. JR

[Mark Allen M]

Thought these may inspire your crew. Great job.


Douglas A-26A Invader under construction at the Tulsa Plant


Douglas A-26C-30-DT 44-35281 "Iron Project" looks to be setting a compass.

[fwnelson]

I'll bet JR would love to see this many people show up Saturday morning. I count 37

[A26 Special K]

Thanks Mark for these two photos. And YES, Frank, we would love to have this kind of manpower for our restoration efforts. The A26 is ongoing, but the DC3 and B25 are in for winter maintenance as well. The B25 is getting some repairs made plus an engine exchange. The DC3 is getting the instrument panel redone. This is taking some of our guys off the A26 for a bit to get the others going, but we sure don't need 3 airplanes down when they should be out flying! We are stretched a little thin as we have lost some guys to graduation and some from the AA layoffs who are moving to other areas. The core group is very dedicated though to getting the 26 finished and flying. It is just going to take more time than anybody anticipated. JR

[A26 Special K]

Today's efforts went well. The avionics wizards are still restoring the panel. I brought out some of the original style instruments for them to fit into the panel and check for functionality. The original electric attitude indicator requires a remote gyro feed so they will have to chase this down and see if it is still in the airplane. Hopefully it will be found in the avionics bay of the tail section. It had been replaced by a vac powered gyro along the way so it may prove to be what we have to stick with. All of the eyebrow lighting has been redone so these should look like new. JR

[A26 Special K]

When Rob Stuessy was here talking about the resurrection of K after the accident in Macon, GA, he mentioned that a few souvenirs were taken by persons unknown. Among them was the door off the aft compartment. Rob said they replaced this door with another A26 door and that answered our question of why it didn't quite fit right. Filipe is trimming and resizing it to fit properly as part of his project today. After listening to Rob, we are indeed, very fortunate that Rob gave Denny Lynch a good prognosis for the recovery of the airplane and worked so hard to save her. We are indebted to Denny for listening and trying to make her fly again. It is not often that a National Treasure is saved from the chopping block and furnances to be tragically made into pots, pans and coke cans! JR