Douglas A-26

Douglas A-26 Invader
A Douglas A-26B "Invader"
Type:	Light bomber
Design country:	United States
Manufacturer:	Douglas Aircraft Company
First flight:	July 10, 1942
Commissioning:	1944
Production time:	1944 to 1946
Number of pieces:	2503

The Douglas A-26 Invader was a twin-engine light bomber from American production, which was used in various versions (including A-26, B-26, A-26A) in World War II as well as in the Korean and Portuguese colonial , was used in the Vietnam War and during the Congo Crisis . The first flight of the XA-26 took place on July 10, 1942, the last machine was retired in 1972. Unusual for the time was the design with only one pilot (i.e. none of the double controls common at the time) and with remote-controlled machine guns in two turrets. The number of rigid barrel weapons was impressive. The versions with unglazed fuselage nose carried six, later eight 12.7mm machine guns, and six more weapons could be installed in the wings. Alternatively, eight wing MGs in four double containers under the wings were also possible. thus the maximum armament could be sixteen fixed machine guns and four remote-controlled machine guns.

The Douglas Aircraft Company produced 2,503 copies. In 1948 the designation was changed from A-26 (A for Attack) to B-26 (B for Bomber) after the last Martin B-26 Marauders , with which this aircraft has nothing to do, were retired.

B-26K in Vietnam

During the Vietnam War this name was changed from B-26 K to A-26 A for political reasons in order to declare the machine not as a bomber but as an attack aircraft and to be able to station it in Thailand with the 609th SOS (Special Operations Squad). Attacks on supply routes were thus flown.

Combat use

B-26 fire fighting aircraft

The first fully equipped bomber groups in Europe were the 416th and 409th Bombardement Group, which flew their first sorties in November 1944. They were followed by groups in Italy, and the new model was also introduced in the theater of war in the Pacific in mid-1944. In total, A-26 flew over 11,000 sorties despite their late appearance on the European theater of war.

In Korea, the B-26 flew a total of 60,096 sorties. 210 aircraft were lost. The operational losses amounted to 168 aircraft, 56 of them due to enemy action (mostly due to ground fire). 41 were killed in accidents, 71 aircraft went missing. 283 crew members were killed, 324 were missing and 63 were wounded. The reconnaissance aircraft RB-26 / WB-26 flew 11,944 sorties with a total of 16 losses, 7 of them in action. The personnel losses amounted to 4 dead and 1 wounded.

In the Indochina War , the French troops flew 72 B-26 and 8 RB-26 from 1951, which were supplied by the USA as part of the Mutual Defense Assistance Program. At least 24 aircraft were lost, 13 of them in combat. On June 30, 1954, there were 79 B-26s and 7 RB-26s, so other aircraft outside of the MDAP must have been delivered (at least 18 B-26s, taking into account the losses).

In the Bay of Pigs invasion , A / B-26s flew on both sides and the US lost two.

In 1961, the aged model broke wings and the machines were withdrawn. At the same time, the government commissioned On Mark Engineering to modernize the B-26 and equip it with a reinforced structure. Once again, A / B-26 returned to Vietnam.

In Vietnam, the operational losses were 22 A-26s between 1962 and 1969 with 51 crew members killed. There the machine gained a reputation as a "truck killer" and destroyed over 4,000 trucks on the supply routes.

By the late 1960s, almost all cells had reached their maximum lifespan, and the A-26 disappeared from the arsenals in 1971. Nevertheless, some machines were repaired and functioned for a long time as fire-fighting aircraft in Canada or as fast business aircraft before the introduction of jet-powered models.

Versions

• XA-26 : prototype with serial number 41-19504.
• XA-26A : Prototype of a night fighter variant (serial number 41-19505) with two pilots and a radar officer / gunner.
• XA-26B Prototype of the bomber version with a closed bow (serial number 41-19588) and a pilot, a navigator and a gunner.
• A-26B production version of the light bomber, 1150 A-26Bs were built in Long Beach, California (A-26B-1-DL to A-26B-66-DL) and 205 at the Tulsa, Oklahoma plant (A-26B -5-DT to A-26B-25-DT). In the closed bow there were six or eight 12.7mm machine guns firing rigidly forward.
• A-26C : Production version of the light bomber with a glazed “nose” and a Norden bomb sight . Two forward-firing 12.7 mm machine guns were attached to the right side of the fuselage. The crew consisted of the pilot and a co-pilot (with double controls), the gunner and a navigator / bombardier. A flight engineer could also fly. 1091 A-26C were built, 1086 in Tulsa (A-26C-16-DT to A-26B-55-DT) and five in Long Beach (A-26C-1-DL and A-26C-2-DL).
• XA-26D prototype for the A-26D (serial number 44-34776) with eight rigid forward-firing 12.7 mm MG in the fuselage and a further six in the wings. After the end of the war, an order for 750 machines was canceled.
• XA-26E : Prototype for the A-26E with glazed bow (serial number 44-25563). After the war ended, an order for 2,150 machines was canceled.
• XA-26F prototype for a variant with two 2100 hp R-2800-83 engines with four-blade propellers and a General Electric J31 engine in the rear (serial number 44-34586).
• A-26Z : Unofficial name of a variant with Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engines, improved cockpit and wing tip tanks. The A-26G would have had a closed bow, the A-26H a glazed one. In October 1945, the USAAF found that there were enough A-26s and the versions were deleted.
• JD-1 : US Navy version. An A-26B (44-34217) and an A-26C (44-35467) were handed over to the US Navy during World War II, and 140 more after the war. They were used as target tow planes (JD-1, after 1962 UB-26J) or drone control aircraft (JD-1D, after 1962 DB-26J).
• RB-26C : unarmed reconnaissance version of the A-26C with cameras and flares .
• YB-26K prototype, conversion of the A-26 by On Mark Engineering : the machine had R-2800-103 engines, reinforced wings and an enlarged tail unit. Furthermore, the avionics and the armament were modernized. Instead of wing weapons, the machine now received eight external load stations and wing tip tanks, and the gun turrets were removed. In May 1966 the USAF designated the machine as the A-26A .
• B-26K : Conversion of 40 B-26B or TB-26B and three B-26C by On Mark Engineering with 2500 HP R-2800-52W engines and the armament of the YB-26K, used in the Vietnam War as A- 26A .
• RB-26L Conversion of two RB-26C (44-34718 and 44-35782) for night reconnaissance.

production

Acceptance of the A-26 by the USAAF:

Manufacturer	version	1943	1944	1945	1946	TOTAL
Douglas, El Segundo	XA-26	1				1
Douglas, El Segundo	XA-26A	1				1
Douglas, El Segundo	XA-26B		1			1
Douglas, Long Beach	A-26B	7th	395	748		1,150
Douglas, Tulsa	A-26B		205			205
Douglas, Long Beach	A-26C			5		5
Douglas, Tulsa	A-26C		110	976		1,086
Douglas, Long Beach	XA-26D			1		1
Douglas, Long Beach	XA-26E				1	1
Douglas, Long Beach	XA-26F				1	1
TOTAL		9	711	1,730	2	2,452

Technical specifications

B-26 bombed in the Korean War in 1951

An A-26A or B-26K of the 609th SOS (Special Operations Squadron) in the Vietnam War 1969

Parameter	Data
length	15.24 m
span	21.34 m
height	5.64 m
drive	two Pratt & Whitney R- 2800-27-Double-Wasp- twin radial engines with 2000 HP each
Top speed	570 km / h
Range	2300 km
crew	3
Service ceiling	6700 m
Empty mass	10,365 kg
Flight mass	Max. 15,900 kg
Armament	eight 12.7 mm machine guns , 2265 kg bomb load and 14 missiles

See also : List of aircraft types

literature

• Chris Westhorp (Ed.): Thunder in the Heavens - Classic US aircraft from World War II . German-language edition, Karl Müller Verlag, Erlangen 1995. ISBN 3-86070-364-1

Web links

Commons : Douglas A-26 Invader  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• Manufacturer site (English)
• Mission history and technical aspects of the A-26 , accessed on December 31, 2012 (English)
• A-26 of the CIA in action against Cuba , accessed December 31, 2012
• A-26 reconnaissance aircraft in the Korean War - mission report by a crew member , PDF, 200 kB (German)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Statistical Digest of the USAF 1953. pp. 28 ff.
2. ↑ Statistical Digest of the USAF 1952 , pp. 325, 327; 1953, p. 310 f., P. 313; 1954, p. 175, p. 185 ff .; 1955, p. 210 ff, p. 223
3. ↑ Chris Hobson: Vietnam Air Losses. Hinckley, 2001, p. 268.
4. ↑ Statistical Digest of the USAF 1946. pp. 100 ff .; www.uswarplanes.net