8-Gun Nose and a Ton of Ammo - Douglas A-26 Invader - Ground Attack and Light Bomber
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- Опубліковано 8 вер 2024
- The Douglas A-26 Invader was the only American bomber to fly missions in three different major wars. It was also the last propeller-driven twin-engine bomber produced for the US Air Force.
The legendary aircraft was a twin-engine light bomber ground-attack vehicle able to carry an extensive bomb load and a generous range of guns. Different versions would serve in all kinds of missions, whether in combat or reconnaissance operations.
The Invaders were designed and built by the Douglas Aircraft Company during World War II. They then served in several Cold War conflicts, as well as in Korea, Vietnam, and Southeast Asia until 1969.
Their last flight outside official military missions was in 1994, but after 21 years of restoration work, a few of them recently took to the skies as part of the Commemorative Air Force fleet, proving that the Invaders still have much more to give.
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Join Dark Skies as we explore the world of aviation with cinematic short documentaries featuring the biggest and fastest airplanes ever built, top-secret military projects, and classified missions with hidden untold true stories. Including US, German, and Soviet warplanes, along with aircraft developments that took place during World War I, World War 2, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, the Gulf War, and special operations mission in between.
As images and footage of actual events are not always available, Dark Skies sometimes utilizes similar historical images and footage for dramatic effect and soundtracks for emotional impact. We do our best to keep it as visually accurate as possible.
All content on Dark Skies is researched, produced, and presented in historical context for educational purposes. We are history enthusiasts and are not always experts in some areas, so please don't hesitate to reach out to us with corrections, additional information, or new ideas.
My family operated A-26s for fire fighting in the 70s and 80s and sold the K-model that has been restored in Texas known as Special Kay. I'm glad I got to fly them.
THAT'S the plane used in that "Always" movie (the remake). I could never put my finger on it! Thanks!
Edit: I just looked up the film - was that a family member of yours in the cockpit in that movie and were those "your" planes?
Yes Denny Lynch was the pilot of tanker57 which was used for the filming. @@smgdfcmfah
My 99 year old father (still kicking) was a Bombardier/Navigator on an A-26 C. He has great stories about training flights out of Florida. He trained in gunnery school, received his Officer's commission in San Antonio, and trained on bombing and navigating. He was preparing to deploy to the South Pacific when the war ended.
My dad's close friend flew A26's in the Pacific. After flying the B25, he said that the A26 flew like a fighter. He loved the plane for it's power, maneuverability and fire power.
Engineer: Use a gun. And if that don't work, use more gun
If all guns don’t work, use a searchlight.
@@AdmRose “If all guns don’t work, use yourself.” - the Japanese (probably)
NEVER ENUFF DAKKA
BAWHAHA 😂!!!
Or, more correctly, use more Gunn. Paul Irving is the definition of Chad living.
I have to give this narrator some heavy kudos. He speaks at a quick pace, but very clearly and precisely, and like he knows what he is talking about. His use of a slight dramatic edge to his voice, at appropriate times, kind of keeps your attention. His voice is pleasant, not annoying, like so many are.
My grandfather Arthur Napolin flew this plane in Korea after being recalled for service to the 452nd. His invader was named “Fly By Night” and he flew 72 missions most of them night missions. Thanks for making this video.
"The Grey Ghost", eh? I wanna hear the story of that plane next!
Yeah, me too
@@531greyghost Name checks out
Yes please. And more intriguing crime type stories.
nice round about way of saying the cia smuggled narcotics into the united states
Me too!
This channel really hits that nostalgia of the old History channel and Military channel aviation specials
Never though of this lol. Man I miss old school history channel
@ CHECK OUT MARK FELTON ! YOU WILL BE AMAZED,AND YOU WILL LEARN ALOT !
@@PirosmikeyNone you're 100% right, but THERE'S NO NEED TO YELL AT EVERYBODY ABOUT IT!!!!!
For some high quality military aviation history I recommend checking out Chris (aka Bismarck). He's one of the *extremely* few tubers who actually uses primary sources instead of hearsay and wikipedia, all sources are linked too.
ua-cam.com/users/MilitaryAviationHistory
@@TheMattc999 I THINK IT'S VERY THOUGHTFUL, SOME OF THE VIEWERS MIGHT BE HARD OF HEARING!
My dad flew A-26's for Standard Oil. 9,700+ hours he flew them. As a kid I was lucky enough to fly one when I was about fifteen. He and I flew commercial to DC, then we flew an A-26 back to Tulsa. He was in demand to fly A-26's for various reasons. His name was Hurley Boehler.
Noice =)
Yes, NOICE!
CIA probably kept him on speed dial.
"You can solve a fair bit of the world's people problems with a Good Stick in an A26K!" (I imagine)
Might be breaking some laws by saying that & names. 😂
@@CornPopsDood Laws are for Peasants.
The Elite don't keep them and US "National Security" trumps everything, so . . .
More on the Grey Ghost...
"A-26B SN# 43-39427 was built in 1943 at the Douglas plant in Long Beach, California. It was delivered to the USAAF on 8 December 1944. It served with various military units such as the 127th base unit at Florence, South Carolina. 4 January 1944 - 13 November 1945 and the 4160th base unit Air Material Command at Hobbs Field, New Mexico. 13 November 1945 - September 1948, and the 4127th base unit Air Material Command at McLellan Air Force Base in California from September 1948 - 13 March 1950 when it was stricken from the USAF inventory and sold on the civilian market.
The aircraft spent 2 years in storage until Alex Oser, a scrap dealer bought it and 13 other A26's in January of 1952, it was sold 19 March 1952 to Texas Railway Equipment Company of Houston one of 9 sold to them, 7 of which ended up going to the French Air Force.
The aircraft went thru major modifications April of 1953 when the aircraft was completely disassembled and all systems inspected and repaired or overhauled, it was at this time the aircraft was converted to an executive transport with many luxuries and modifications being done to the aircraft by Grand Central Aircraft Company of Glendale, California.
Barnwell Drilling Company of Shreveport, Louisiana bought the A-26 30 December 1961 and made further modifications along the executive transport role. During this time period 1952-1967 the A-26 received best of care and maintenance from Barnwell and Texas Railway Equipment Company. It is said that former Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson had flown on the aircraft as well as John Kennedy!! John Barnwell traded the A-26 on 7 February 1967 for a larger Corvair 240 with Omni Investments, and the N numbers were also swapped in the trade and Invader N75Y became Invader N240P Incorporated.
Ownership history and uses are a little sketchy from 1972 to 1977 but they must have been interesting since the aircraft was seized from drug runners by T.L. Baker of the Potter Company. Sheriffs Department in Amarillo on 10 January 1977 after a pilot had landed the aircraft on one engine and walked away from the airplane and authorities became suspicious. A testament to this is that at a particular airshow a few years ago two gentlemen in dark sunglasses seemed rather intrigued by the airplane, finally one of the gentlemen approached a crew member and asked what color the aircraft had been before Ranger Wing acquired it. When told it was white with grey trim he exclaimed "By God it's the "Grey Ghost"!! We chased that sucker up and down the Gulf Coast!! Never could catch him, he'd drop down on the deck and throttle the engines up and leave us there! The two gentlemen where DEA agents."
very accurate
waco👍
Damn you did your homework
You did a great homework! Very informative and interesting 👍👍👍
Article including pictures
napoleon130.tripod com/id49.html
Put a _._ in the space before _com_
@@PronatorTendon thanks for looking out. Now I know what to do when UA-cam doesn’t allow to attach a link in the comments. 🍻
The fact that some of these planes still fly today definitely says something about how bad ass our fathers and grandfather's were. This is amazing 👏
I don’t see how that had anything to do with that, that’s all the result of the engineers who maintained the aircraft and the smart men who designed it. Ppl like you are odd ones
@@CorruptInfinityOfficial What a goofy reply.
@@davek5027 there is always a person like little Brady up there who always has to poo poo everything.
@@CorruptInfinityOfficial fathers and grandfathers were also engineers and mechanics you know?
@@Inkslinger123 The reason those airplanes -- and the others of the time -- were so outstanding is because the engineers had those marvelous hand held computers that they could wear in holsters on their belts. You could trust their calculations more than those who used the Itty Bitty Machine computers.
The B-26 also saw government service in the 1980s and 90s as an airborn air sampling platform for the EPA based on Las Vegas, NV.
I flew a number of those missions myself. It was a very capable and versatile aircraft.
While I was stationed at Clark AB, P.I. in 1965, several of these came through. We loaded their .50 cal machine guns before they headed off to Vietnam or wherever. Those eight barrels protruding from the nose was an impressive sight. I always thought this aircraft had very graceful lines for a propeller bomber.
A good friend, Robert Converse, his mother Diana Bixby (Converse), owned and flew an A 26 Havoc or Invader called Huntress 11 (Huntress 1 was a Mosquito). She had it pressurized by Paul Mantz in preparation for an around the world record attempt. She flew out of long beach,CA. She made several point to point runs, setting a record from Van Nuys to Denver. Unfortunately she died off coast of Baja, running out of fuel while in fog, attempting a water landing while flying produce to Loreto Baja. Robert carried on the Huntress line with a P-51, Huntress 111. Flew at Reno beginning in1988 thru the early 90's. Beautiful plane. I was fortunate to ride to Merced air show with him in 1988.
Pops was a 26 engine mechanic. He thought it was one of the outstanding aircraft of the war
Prime example of the success of “keep it simple”.
Simple layout + lots of power + lots of guns = attack aircraft
When I used to work "airside" at the local airport, an A-26 Invader rolled up to customs (in 1993) where I worked. I asked to climb in and the pilot said sure, but don't touch anything . . . lol. It was fully restored and a thing of beauty. Cheers ~ Boomer.
My dad started out in Korea as a waist gunner in B-29s but was transferred to the A-26 as gunner flying out of Pusan. He told me some amazing stories about some of the ground attack missions that they went on. He also said that they never really eliminated the nose gear issue and the gear on his plane collapsed on landing once. He said one guy got in trouble because he struck a mast on a ship with the wingtip and trashed the wing but the plane still flew home!
An amazing plane. Used into the 1990's as fire bombers in Montana, and featured in the film "Always".
Amazing aircraft that doesn't get enough credit. Had one of the lowest loss ratios of any plane in ww2. Possibly the only attack aircraft to serve in ww2 through Vietnam. Faster than some ww2 fighters.
My father, a B24 navigator in the 5th Air Force, said a pair of these arrived at his station, in transit. Before they left, the pilots took some of the Liberator pilots up to stick them around a bit, and he went as well. Said it was the closest he ever got to flying a fighter.
I remember a National Geographic article from the early 1970s about forest fires and it showed a picture of an A-26 Invader dropping fire retardent on a blaze. It was always one of my favorites.
Movie "Always" with Richard Dreyfus
Sure it wasnt napalm lol
The Johnson Flying Service in Missoula MT had a number of A-26s for dropping retardant. They used them for a good number of years. Watched one of them drop retardant on a fire in North Idaho back in the '70s.
They had one of these on static display on Chanute AB when I lived there. Beautiful airplane. I remember them mostly because they were used in the movie “Always” as fire fighting aircraft.
Great film
I live 15 miles from Chanute . Not much left sad to say and the aircraft nobody wanted were burned when the museum closed. Sad
I went to aircraft structural repair Tech school at Chanute Air Force Base in 1990 that’s closed down now isn’t it
@@jjayyoung7335 I went to the structural repair school in Feb. 1969, went to Thailand in Aug. 69 worked on A-26. I was 20 years old.
@@jjayyoung7335 I'm afraid so. My dad retired there. I was there for the final flar lowering in 1993 and still have a copy of the last issue of the base paper. The pawn shop just outside the main gate is still there but The Hitchin' Post is long gone.
My grandpa flew A-26s in WWII in Japan off Okinawa. He was the copilot, but the actual pilot fell asleep often so he flew the plane. He joined the Army Air Force because he was seeing all his friends get drafted and being killed. He never seemed to be proud of dropping bombs on people. I understand that, he just did what he had to. He hated pineapple after the war because it was the only fruit he got to eat. He was a good man and I miss him. He passed at age 92.
*Bless your Grandpa, a member of the bravest and Greatest Generation. Mine were also in USAAF in WW2. Both quite vocal, lots of stories especially with their buddies at lunch. None displayed any remorse, no regrets. Cheers!*
Boy she's a beauty like many other ww2 planes
“I got a fever! And the only prescription, is more nose gun!”
14 machine guns. Wow! I thought I knew a fair bit about WW2 planes. Never knew that. I would like to see some strafing films from that.
My Dad was a Warrant Officer at an A-26 base in, IIRC, the Philippines. He got some kind fungal infection that bothered him for over twenty years. They finally found a cure, but the outbreaks made him miserable. Both his arms would almost be raw when it flared up.
Same here (about the plane and guns). About the fungus? Yes, it can be horrible, causing skin to become raw, or slough off, exposing very sensitive "raw meat" layers below. Some suffer for a long time. Today doctors often give anti-fungal creams (prescription strength) to try to help, and it usually does in many cases. There is always a "fungus among us" and it can be debilitating (on feet and elsewhere). I am commenting so you know someone appreciated what you wrote.
@@steadmanuhlich6734 Thanks! It went on for about 20 years if I recall. Mostly it affected his forearms. He mustered out after the war, the rejoined after it became the USAF and retired in the early 60s. I was an Air Force brat and loved planes. Used to read a lot of the books available back then about the war.
A number of A-26s were converted to fire-fighting duties in BC. I got to watch one rev up for take-off at a short field (actually an abandoned strip of highway) and thunder past me, then climb to a small fire on a nearby mountainside. The underside exploded in a cloud of pink mud, and it turned to duties elsewhere. I'll never forget the sound of those built-for-war engines at full throttle, and the rock steady helmet of the pilot as he flashed past - what a sight!
I used to work at an air museum and my boss was the tail gunner of this plane. The only thing he hit with those guns was his own tailfin lol
He must have removed the safety interrupters in order to shoot his own tail in which case he could of and should of been courts martialed and drummed out of the service. ALL power turrets on U.S. aircraft had interrupters just for the purpose of making it so you couldn't accidentally shoot down your own airplane during the heat of combat.
@@gonphercoughie897 Context: the Invader was flying so low in a valley he was using the top gun turret to suppress fire from Chinese troops during Korea. Because of the complex nature of the ventral and dorsal gun layout it was prone to problems like this. I believe the official records stated that the interrupter was broken thus, only a few stray bullets clipped the tail. Maintenance issues like this happen in wartime, like it or not.
Although briefly mentioned that it was in service with the French. I’d like to say that the A-26 served with distinction in the first Indochina war. These aircraft were pivotal air assets in use right up to the siege of Dien Bien Phu.
Engineer: How many guns do you want
General: yes
Engineer: seriously, how many
General: more.
Engineer: more?
General: *MORE DAKKA*
DAKKA DAKKA DAKKA!!!
We had A-26s at Nakhom Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base when I was there in 1969. They were all painted black for flying night missions over the Trail in Laos.
I turned wrench on both the A-26B and B-26K. They’re awesome aircraft!
My grandpa worked on these in Vietnam, this and the T-28 are his favorites
I want to say: you of the Dark channels do GREAT work! As someone who LOVED airplanes as a kid, I can say I have been entertained as well as learned a lot from your videos.
Please keep it up!
My Father flew them in Korea, the Bomber version, the attack version and then finally the Mac plane, which had an infrared scope in the nose to track trains at night. hit them with a phosphorous missile and the rest would come in and destroy them. We have one a John Wayne Airport in Orange County at the Lyons museum. Those men were real heroes.
Great memories! Got to see plenty of those birds, growing up. They flew for air spray here in Canada. One of my best memories was being up in Northern Alberta during a particularly harsh fire season. I was walking to a corner store to pick up some bevy’s when, I hear the drone of twin wasp radials approaching my location. Suddenly, an A-26 at ~1500-2000 ft. rips right overhead. I was always in awe at how long those planes were flying for. Stupid Canadian gov grounded them for “climate” reasons. I swear, those planes would still be flying today, given half the chance.
Love the Invader! My dad worked on one called "Gator Invader" just before it moved to Greece. I was in the cockpit during a ground run-up that resulted in an engine fire, which the pilot quickly put out.
Cool fact, it could out turn a BF- 109G. Sounds impossible but research it. It was fast and extremely maneuverable. It could turn so hard it would break the center wings spar. Truly great aircraft.
Sounds like it could take over for the P-38!
Virtually all aircraft are capable of exceeding their g limits and ripping the wings off in a turn.
My father flew the A26/B26 in WWII and Korea. He said it was a fast and highly maneuverable plane. The 'B' version, with its 6 or 8 .50 machine guns in the nose, was greatly feared by enemy ground troops. Unfortunately, the 8 gun version almost always jammed and there was no way of clearing the jam in the air.
I can imagine the cussing that resulted from jammed guns!
In mid-1974 I examined a B 26 of the Indonesian Air Force (AURI) at Harlim Airbase Jakarta. It was fitted with 16, 50 cal guns and still had the US Army Air Force communications equipment fitted. Also stowed in the bomb bay was a set of golf clubs. I believe it was used in Irian Jaya.
That one Dislike as of this comment's writing, probably was from one of those who kept complaining about the speech rate of the voiceover.
He talks way too fast! But no dislike from me.
@@-Spartan-Lifestyle- per research, normal modern humans are CAPABLE of speech comprehension of more than 400 words per minute.
Dark channels' Voiceover is not even half that ratem
He's fine, I've learned to keep up with him.
My dad knew a guy who had one converted into a "company" plane. He had wide windows installed. Impressive taking off a grass strip in the early 1960's.
"company" plane?
i'm doing script research &my main character has a classic ww2 bomber as his private plane.. &it's a toss up between the a26 (fell in love with it the first time I saw it as a kid in the movie Always with Richard Dreyfuss) or the de havilland mosquito
any anecdotal details would be welcome
@@o-wolf If you were to pick between those two, I'd say the A-26 would be the more likely of the two, as it would be more useful to someone than the Mossie. Not only did the A-26 find a lot of use after the war doing different things, some private owners actually did use their A-26's for travel, and I believe there was actually a show about just that sometime in the 50's or 60's. It was a very versatile aircraft. On Mark made a corporate style conversion of the A-26, they replaced the graceful birdcage style canopy with a fugly looking airliner style windshield, added some wingtip tanks and uprated engines, lengthened the nose, replaced the straight spar carry-through with a steel hoop to allow a cabin to connect with the cockpit, and added some windows on the sides. Conversely, the Mossie wouldn't have the same kind of longevity that the A-26 would have simply due to its construction...that's where there are so few of them surviving today, and the ones that are airworthy only have bits and pieces of the original aircraft left.
@@Skinflaps_Meatslapper*Windshield wasn't just "airliner style". On Mark's Mike Keithley adapted DC-7C windows to accommodate cabin pressurisation. Cheers!*
@@blackrifle6736 Well....a DC-7 certainly fits the definition of airliner. Made a beautiful aircraft look like a horrid abortion.
@@Skinflaps_Meatslapper*The movie you referred to was "The Wheeler Dealers", 1963, Jim Garner and Lee Remick. Reality check: Crew and passenger comfort in maintaining 6,800 ft cabin altitude at 23,000 feet AMSL swamps your delicate fanboi aesthetic irritation. Rather primitive today compared to the HondaJet Elite II at 43,000 ft. but 60 years ago was a big deal for an executive twin. Cheers!*
Actually a pretty good summary. And, apart from the F-100s dropping napalm to represent Invaders bombing Cuba, the video actually represents what's being discussed. Well done!
I had to look up the 'Grey Ghost'. The story is the aircraft started as a night interdictor over Germany in 1944 and after WWII was sent to the reserve and then stored. After disposal by the US military in '58 it was first used by TI for radio trials and then converted as a fire bomber before being sold into private hands. At this point it was used for the illegal import business mentioned until being seized by the DEA. It was eventually acquired by the Commemorative Air Force and put on display before being renovated and returned to flying status.
The more .50 cal's the better!
You can never have too many .50s!
More dakka.
...depends which end of them you are on, I imagine...
Absolutely devastating on ground targets.
I want Ma Dueces! And Gramma Dueces! Aunt Dueces and Cousin Dueces!!
A local "Forest Fire Fighting Aerial" Company purchased a few retired A-26's for use as retardant bombers in the 60's. One came to him with a few bullet holes in it. They were used well into the 90's.
Engineer: "So what do you need? Besides a miracle. "
A-26: "We need guns. Lots of guns."
THAT's what we need. An A-26 named *NEO!!!*
I really needed to see footage of the 15 gun model lighting something up.
The B-25 Mitchell and the A-26 Invader are my two favorite medium bombers/ground attack aircraft of WW2. Thank you for making these fantastic videos. 👏👏👏
A friend of mine was bombadier on a B-26, actually the A-26, in Korea. All night missions. They didn't want to get caught after sunrise. He was a B-17 bombadier in WW2. One of the nicest guys I've known.
It's not the only bomber to serve in three different major wars. The B52 is another obvious example, having served in Vietnam, Iraq(Desert Storm, and OIF), Afghanistan, and Syria.
No requirement to speak so fast. These are America's Greatest Aircraft and we love the Stories behind them. Dad was chief Armorer on A-20,B-24,B-29,B-47. RIP Sarge.
For years an A-26 was sitting at Archerfield airport in Brisbane, Australia.
It is now being restored to flying condition.
It will be good to see and hear it fly.
An A-26? I think you'll find it was a Neptune anti-sub warfare aircraft, if it's the one that was sitting at the corner of Beatty Rd and Mortimer St.
@@cassandrafoxx4171 I’m sure that I found I was correct. LOL
www.google.com.au/amp/warbirdsnews.com/aircraft-restoration/douglas-a-26-invader-movements-downunder.html/amp
My Grandfather flew this in Africa and Italy during WWII
Very cool! Scary with The rommel there I bet.
My dad was a radio operator in the RAF in Sudan during WWII he said there were always American aircraft flying in and out of the base, Who knows my dad probably spoke to your Grandfather at some point during the war.
@@peter-radiantpipes2800 He never said much about it.
@@thestumaji656 That's a cool thought.
@@RugNug pretty common. Most dont want to rethink it. My uncle had terrible nightmares his whole life being a tunnel rat in Vietnam. Stepdad too. Was one of the early seals in Vietnam. Messes with you for life of course. Survival rate of aircrews were so low… just to make it out was amazing huh.
Designer: so how many guns do u want?
Airforce: ALL 👏 OF 👏 THEM 👏
Airforce: “yes”
Yes lol
Always loved this plane. I saw it for the first time as a pre teen at Mitchell AFB on LI Ny around 1959 where it was visiting as the personal plane of a visiting officer of high rank. It had a custom paint job and curtains in the rear windows. She was a slick looker. I later saw my next one at the Air Force museum.
The RB-26C remained in operation well past 1950. Even some of the B-26Ks were outfitted as RB versions. There were also dedicated Recon Squadrons that flew the RB model throughout the Korean War.
That's one gagster of an attack aircraft with one hell of a career.
These were simulated in the first online multiplayer air to air combat simulator, Air Warrior, in the late 1980's .. I've probably got thousands of hours in these things from Air Warrior... My all time favorite combat aircraft. Thank you so much for all the wonderful footage of them in the air. :)
Same... Tropicop here.... holey shit its been a min.
The Thai government surely did changed
it's mind! I got there in 1969 and served in tha army's Signal Corps on remote microwave atop mountain called Phu Mu. We went to Ubon AFB to use the PX.
There were always a lot of F-4's and
AC-130 gunships on base. Working as a civilian tech later at U-Tapao AFB they had the B-52's, U-2's, also Blackbird stealth aircraft. Got married over there and my son was born there.
Thank you, Dark Skies. -- The airframe handled many roles. -- The "grey ghost" comment, at the end of the video,... IS AWESOME!!
8:17 father of unlucky Brian: Had 12 guns. All jammed at the same time xd
In the early 1990's l hiked to an A-26 crash site in California to retrieve the horizontal mounting forks. It was with a group of my Dad's friends. I was only a teenager. We gave the parts to Pacific Coast Air Museum in Santa Rosa where they're restoring an A-26. The only piece of the plane at the crash site was the tail. It is a memory l cherish...
I wanna know about the grey ghost now.
I named my Recumbent trike Grey Ghost.... Now i'm intrigued....
Same here, hopefully that will be the next video ( *HINT HINT* 😋)
@@TheMattc999 If you’re talking about the YF-23, he already had a video about that
Me too, sounds like an interesting story!
A/B-26 is one of best looking WWII era planes. Great lines and proportions.
I’ve always loved the Invader, since I was a kid the A-26 was always one of my favorite combat aircraft. I just love the styling, although I could never decide if it looked like a fighter version of a bomber, or a bomber version of a fighter!
Always loved the A26 also. Haven’t located anything to determine if a gun nose A26 shot down any Luftwaffe fighters. But years ago I came across stores from several German fighter pilots. They got a nasty surprise if they mistook an A26 for an A20. A26 pilots loved it, because once the bomb load was gone, it performed like a fighter.
Well, John Patz, you could round out the collection with a Bristol Beaufighter -- the joke around the RAF was "two bloody great radials up front, hotly pursued by an airframe."
@@w.reidripley1968 Yeah, I love the look of them as well. Never heard that joke about them, but that's great, and REALLY describes their look as well. 😀
Also they had as many 50 cals as a B-17 fortress in a much smaller package....very impressive !!!!
I love that last part, Drug smuggling plane. Good old Barry Seal Cocaine Cowboy days. Love it. its only a crime if you get caught. A+.
It's only a crime If you get caught or if your product ruins millions of families and kills 100s of thousands of lives by people seeking to escape the pain and suffering that is in their life so they buy into the lie of drugs and it ends up destroying their life further. I am one of those people and I fought like hell to get sober 5 years ago almost 6 now. Drugs lead to nothing but destruction and death
@@galatians-2.20 I am glad you got off of it and bettered your life but no one forced nothing down your lungs throat nasal passages or veins. Supply because of demand.
@@leonswan6733 yup you are right I made some really crappy choices. I got on pain pills from my doctor for legitimate medical reasons and got addicted before I even knew what was going on. Then it was hard to stop. I spent so much money on it and I then switched to heroin because it's cheaper and stronger. I almost died a couple times to but by the grace of God I am still alive and because He set me free I am now free. That was the toughest struggle I have ever gone through. I felt so helpless and hopeless I didn't want to live anymore. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't quit. Every time I tried the withdrawals alone hurt so bad I would relapse. Plus I was worried I'd die from the withdrawals they were so bad. But when all hope was lost and I finally realized just how deep I was in it and that I couldn't get myself out that's when God lifted me out of that and gave me a second chance. He did more than that too...He forgave me and made me a new man. I now look back on that time with so much clarity and I'm able to see how much I hurt my family. I truly believed at the time that I was only hurting myself and I didn't care but now I realize how much I hurt my family and how selfish I was. Despite all of that God has given me the strength to make amends and right my wrongs and has given me the strength and compassion to forgive myself which was probably the hardest of all
@@leonswan6733 I agree that there is supply because of demand but there is also demand because people are addicted to supply. I think both are problems. And every individual must be responsible for informing themselves on these drugs, the risks, and their overall impact on people's lives. Every individual must make the right choice for themselves or suffer the consequences like I did but that doesn't mean that smugglers and dealers who get rich off of others suffering through addiction to their product doesn't mean they are blameless either you know?
@@galatians-2.20 I am glad you are doing good now sir.
My Dad flew A20's with the Grim Reapers in New Guinea...
This is cool. Thx for the post.
I absolutely love this airplane. Built a kit for it twice.
I had a Havoc kit.
Looks like General George King got over-ruled by the powers that be. My Dad's 90th Attack Squadron, 3rd Bomb Group, 5th AAF, took possession of the Invader during their stay in the Philippines in '44 and they loved it enough to replace both their B25s and few A20s. . It was fast enough to be difficult enough to catch that their P38 escorts would jump the Japanese fighters as they were struggling to reel the A26s in. My dad was the gunner who got into the war late and claimed that he never got to use the .50 cal. turrets in defense of his aircraft, through the remainder of the war, because of the A26's speed and their deadly P:38 escorts which included, among others, the two leading US aces Richard Bong and Thomas McGuire. The 90th was one of the first 3 "parafrag" squadrons that would approach their targeted IJA airfields on the deck. The Invader was also easier than the A20 for the gunner to get out of should they have to ditch in the Pacific during any skip bombing missions against armed IJA transports although my dad was'nt in on any of those missions that late in the war. They did however shoot up trains and ammo dumps and the like over the home Islands which was no good place, for bomber crews especially, to be shot down and captured in.
I would love to know how fast the “Grey Ghost” went in those flights avoiding the DEA, i’d imagine after the extensive refits and modifications she could reach some ridiculous speeds compared to anything the DEA could field at the time.
Until private jets came around, the corporate converted A-26 were the fastest private / corporate aircraft in the world. For their size, these airplanes will scoot.
The final anecdote about the Drug Runners is priceless…
Reminds me of a movie I watched in my childhood, of a Wartime Motor Torpedo Boat pressed into service after WW2, for use as a super fast vehicle for smuggling contraband in the Mediterranean & outrunning Customs vessels.
The allies post war converted S-boats to insert agents into Baltic states.
The Invader would also be used as an Attack fire fighter bomber. There are a couple of them used in the movie "Always," starring Richard Dreyfus and John Goodman.
There is a high pitched ringing that starts during the last few minutes of the video. It freaked my dog the hell out.
I love this and the 12 gun Havoc the Brits had.
Great info on the Douglas A-26 Invader. There is a beautiful one at the Lyon Museum in Orange County CA.
1:44 NACA (the forerunner to NASA) is typically pronounced as the four separate letters, not a phonetically, as if it were an actual word.
The DEA fellas quoted at the end saw first hand why the CIA operated these planes. Talk about the ultimate platform for moving cocaine out of Central America into CONUS! They used to fly them through Louisiana and the Florida panhandle into Arkansas to make their drops 😂
Clinton Express?
@@mindblownwatcher8536 I mean there's always a fall guy.
Probably moving ballots around the country to put their man in office. Oops did I say that .
Now we know Why Clinton became president...
The names of Sam Walton, J.B.Hunt, Tyson, and Bill Clinton, and probably H.W.Bush come to mind . . .
I was crew chief of the A26's at Nakon Phanom Royal Thai Air base in 1967. We lost one of our Eagles during that assignment.
I was at NKP in 1969. Crew chief - A1 Skyraiders. Hobo squad. Had a buddy that worked on the A-26s, there.
@@philfreeman5567 it was really great working on the A26. I went onto be assigned to Natrang to accept the O2 A’s & B’s coming in from Hickam AFB escorted by the Goose. Then back to Naked Fanny. And Flight line operations. Loved the pool and the town. I was actually assigned to the 23rd TASS squadron, but went all over SEA.
@@philfreeman5567 I just recalled a 1967. We had a NKP HOBO pilot that decided he wanted to fly low over the Macon river, and ended up with his prop in the water, and then the plane. Those things are so large and so powerful. Anyway, not a good day for him. We got the plane back. I think, but not in very good shape.
i never thought of this, but i wonder how many people have died from falling bullets from aircraft back in them days. bullets that werent intended for them, but intended for other aircraft
And schrapnel from AA guns too.
Expended 50 caliber rounds can break windshields that I know for a fact. Parking lot for a live fire demonstration happened to be under hover position. Poor post MPs took dozens of damage reports
@@RGC-gn2nm i would think a fifty caliber would without a doubt kill you! i dont know if this is true, but i was always told when i was growing up, never too shoot my gun in the air, because the bullet can travel for miles and kill someone on the way down. now the miles part i can see as an exaggeration, but i dont think i ever let go of the notion that even a 22 or 306 coming back down could kill someone.
I'm guessing like half a million, maybe? It is a good question TBH.
Especially Cannons over cities.
Pretty sure there were civilian casualties from the Pearl Harbor attack, from the live AA rounds fired against the Japanese by the Navy. Probably the same for other countries under air attack. War sucks, and it's dangerous.
Saw one at an airshow once...Pilot flew it around like a twin engine fighter..
A few notes on the stellar A-26 Invader. Still flying today as fire retardant bombers. Could turn to the right with a P-51 Mustang (empty no rockets on wings or bombs). The 14 forward firing 50's could sink a small destroyer. Carried same bomb load as B-17G (The B-17 rigged for long range bombing mission). When a pilot was to tall for a Mustang the pilot was offered the A-26 it had built in leg room.
In 1969 I was stationed at a base in Thailand. About 0200 hrs. I had just completed a repair on one of our aircraft and was walking across the ramp to my shop and as I rounded a revetment I came across an A-26 parked on our ramp. It was painted in the standard cammo pattern of the day, it was equipped with wingtip tanks and an 8 gun nose. It apparently just landed as the engines were still hot. I looked for it the next night, but it was gone. I never saw another one during my tour of duty in SEA.
I would think that many guns in the nose would effect weight and balance when you run out of ammo. But I guess as fuel is used and bombs dropped it might even out.
I saw one of these at the Lone Star Flight Museum in Houston Texas, May have been the one they talked about serving in the Commerative Air Force (formerly known as the Confederate AIr Force). Only air forces back in the US Civil War were Union observation balloons.
Maybe this is a personal issue, I'm really sensitive to high pitched sounds, and after 10:30 the audio gets a high pitched tone in the background. Maybe it's due to that specific audio track after that point. Don't know if anyone cares. A little curious if anyone noticed though.
Oh yea i caught onto that one quick! Bothered my ears until I turned it down
Holy crap look at the size of those engines compared to fuselage!
Looks very useful......like the A10.
My Dad was a navigator on the A-26 based out of Nakhon Phanom Thailand, and England AFB Alexandria Louisiana. NIMROD
A-10:My daddy served in WW2!
There were always A-26s flying, they didn't stop in 1986 and began flying recently. A-26s were used as firebombers from the 70 till the early 2000s and have been in use as executive airplanes from the 50s and as warbirds all the way from the late 70s till today. A-26s have continuously been flying for the past 75 years or so years !!
I see room for more .50s......
God !... What a machine,,never heard that much about these till your vidio..they were and still are incredible planes..out running the atf planes man you got to love that !!!! And those engines are works of art wow !!!...that old radial magic hitting way above there weight..way above !!!!
Is there a Dark Land series? Sea and sky are covered so well. ("Dark Soil" might sound a little weird or confusing.)
My Mom worked on the drafting dept. Long Beach. She laid out the sheet metal templates for the C nose. 😜
Why are there no gun camera footage, especially in the ground attack role?
I’d love to see that. All those .50’s firing simultaneously must’ve been awesome to see
Probably all the vibrations from all the guns shooting would make the camera shake too much to make a clear image, and also knock out the pilots fillings.
With all those .50 cals, there was nowhere to fit a camera?
Must be exhausting talking the way you do.
I think a story on the Grey Ghost and the DEA chasing them would be interesting and a great compliment to this video...
Yup. I loved that A 26 / B 26. I am sooo glad I took photos with a few of them.
My favorite world war II medium bomber.... They even used them in Vietnam
37mm cannons vs. 14, .50 cal machine guns ? Not fair. That’s like asking”do you want a 5 lb banana split ? Or do you want a 5 lb. Banana splt ?