Warbird Information Exchange

As I have sat in the cockpit of the B to get familiar with the different layout of switches etc, I noticed it has the same landing gear safety mechanism as K. The gear handle sits right under the throttles. On the ground, this pin pops up to keep the landing gear handle from being raised to the top and thus causing the gear to retract. When the weight is off the gear as in flight, with electrical power on, the pin automatically retracts and allows the gear handle to be raised. If the squat switch or solenoid doesn't work, it can still be overridden manually by pushing the pin in if it is absolutely necessary to get the gear up such as when an engine fails on take off. It's just a little procedure to remember when things are not going so well. I am planning to be on the crew when the CAF 26 goes to the Brownsville Airshow the weekend of Feb 22-23. Hope to see ya'll there. Come on by and say howdy. JR

The earlier shot was a profile so this one is straight on. Throttles to the left (big knobs), Props in the middle and mixtures on the right. Below the throttle quadrant on the right are the carb air heat levers. The smaller redish knobs on single levers are the friction locks for the other levers so they can be set and then won't creep back under the vibration. The yellow button on the side of the left throttle lever is for radio transmit, but on the Enid, OK airplane, Lady Liberty, it will run the flaps instead. So it just goes back to the old saying. If you have flown one A-26, you have flown one A-26. Can have many configurations by the time they have come this far. Another gotcha is that the oil cooler door switches run just opposite between these two airplanes. Glad we got the automatic feature working on K so this shouldn't be much of a factor for us. There are no indicators except the oil temp gauges as to how far the doors might be open. Seems to me I once heard a fella say that a man has to know his limitations. Well, the B manuals have the airspeeds in mph and the K manuals are all in knots. Go figure. So that's why I am up late. Trying to study the limitations and need a break!! JR

This past Saturday, much was accomplished, however, I have to admit I was not there to get the complete story. Picked up one of those bugs that just made me think I was going to die and then was afraid I wouldn't. Sheesh. Anyway, the gang did get more projects done. Here they are cleaning out the bottom of the cockpit in anticipation of paint. There was a goodly amount of FOD down in the bottom so they had quite a collection. The insulation on the right side of the cockpit needs to come off and be replaced with new that JR found. Then I think it should be about ready for paint. The other JR

New nose gear doors have been walnut blasted, primed and new seals put around the edges. Can't wait to see them on, but we have to figure out what caused the problem in the first place before installing them. Chances are these are the last good doors out there that might be available. I'm sure there are some, but nobody is offering them for sale anyway. We don't want to take any chances. JR

fascinating work! ... The future is near (flat paint or polish, both looks are fantastic)


Douglas B-26K Counter Invader USAFM?


B-26B-61-DL, 44-34610, Air Guard Bureau, RAFB, 18 June 1972


Photo states "A-26 panel"


Any idea where this could be? I believe the very little data on this photo stated somewhere in Utah?


Interesting canopy opening.

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“Knowing what’s right, doesn’t mean much unless you do what’s right.”

The snow photo could easily be Utah, 1948-49 was an incredibly bad winter in Utah. It might be the Utah Guard side of the SLC international airport or Hill AFB.

Tom P.

Looks cold enough for sure! In her previous life, K spent about three months at Hill AFB undergoing maintenance before being sent to Hurlburt and begin work in the 4400th Combat Crew Training outfit. It appears that was about 1961. She was sent to DM for a short period and then sent to OnMark in 1964 for the change to the K model. Oh, and Mark, the top pic of K model is at the AF Museum. The engines, props and other pieces came from the Florence airplane that was scrapped to make it a donor for the museum's airplane. That whole thang was a tragedy as Randy can attest. JR

John Kerr sent a boatload of photos he had that showed the K's in storage at DM after their return in 69-70. I would sure love to have two of those 230 gal drop tanks shown on this airplane. They were normally only used for long range ferry flights like when they came back across the Pacific. I have been saving them for awhile but now would be a good time to share them. JR

.....and this is one of my favorites. Ol Magnet A$$ was the name given to one of our Nimrod pilots as has been mentioned back in our mini-Nimrod reunion a few years back. I think Ken Y held the record for coming back home after a mission with more tail feathers missing or holed than any other pilot. For some reason, he took hits but they usually were at the back rather than the pointy end which was a good thing. One time it was so bad, the AF had to ship an entire tail assy out to NKP and replace the whole thang. Took the line guys about a week to make the swap, but it saved an airplane. Now we have a picture showing the cowling art. Meant to ask Ken if he did that or some of the other crews surprised him with it. I'll get back to you on that. Anyway, come see us tomorrow. Looks like good weather in store for Ft Worth. The team will be hard at it then. Thanks for your support. JR

............. the top pic of K model is at the AF Museum. The engines, props and other pieces came from the Florence airplane that was scrapped to make it a donor for the museum's airplane.
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yessirr, that would be 676, one of the original 8 deployed to NKP. 671, which was at Florence Air & Missile Museum, was also on the original deployment. The first and second time I visited 671 at Florence, she had the correct props. The last time I was there prior to it being scrapped, I noticed that the props had been changed. A guy at the museum said that "the Air Force came down and changed out the props for the ones that are on it now." I didn't know they had changed the engines also. I was not aware at the time that 676 was being restored in Dayton. When the scrapping began, there was an effort underway to remove 666 from the concrete pylon at hurlburt and put it on its wheels. Apparently it had none. Somehow, and I never found out how this transpired, the landing gear from 671 was "aquired" for 666. Way back, I heard from someone that the gear was located in the C-123 in Hurlburt Air Park. 666 eventually was put on its wheels. When I learned, quite accidentally, that 671 was being scrapped, I made it down to Florence and salvaged some of what was left of it. There wasn't much left, and the trunk of a Grand Am wouldn't hold but so much. Proud to say I still have some pieces of it here in the "Nimrod Room".
Joe Maynard flew 671 to NKP in 1966. When I was at Meachum last year I gave Joe a piece of the wing spar section I had gotten from it.

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Randy Ryman
Project Big Eagle
NKP Thailand 1966
http://www.coastcomp.com/av/florence/florandy.htm

This is how I found 671 when I went to Florence in June of 99

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Randy Ryman
Project Big Eagle
NKP Thailand 1966
http://www.coastcomp.com/av/florence/florandy.htm

Here is 671 in better times.







These were taken at Florence the last one was the last time I saw it.

Mark Fidler

This is after the engines and props were changed. This was the last time I saw it in one piece.

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Randy Ryman
Project Big Eagle
NKP Thailand 1966
http://www.coastcomp.com/av/florence/florandy.htm

I'm loving all the pics. Just think... if "jet jocky's" (Gen. Momyer) didn't have a stranglehold on the thinking at the time... On Mark could have made hundreds of conversions. Instead of just one squadron in SEA, if there had been three or four... oh well.

I found and bought a book with more pics. "Douglas A-26 Invader - Walk Around No. 51" It is mostly a picture book and has pics of lots of variants of the A/B26. You can find it at amazon if you want to check it out:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0897475518?_en ... ag=nbbi-20

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Bob
Memories of Naked Fanny
More Memories of Naked Fanny (Nov 2013)
609th Nimrod, Bomb loader, Gun Plumber, '68 - '69

Randy: what makes the "after the change" picture obvious is that the stock round tip props and old style cowlings are on it. The carb air intake was moved from the cowling inlet to the top of the nacelle with a scoop to get cooler air to the carb in a later mod after finding the old style didn't work so good in tropical climates. Although the OnMark K airplanes were delivered with the old style, they were soon modified. They did have the big DC-6 sawed off props however with the bigger engines.

Bob: will try to find some more of John's pics and put them up for you. I do have that book you cited and there are a bunch of K model pics and info in there. I also recommend it for A-26 fans.

Thanks guys! JR