Sole Survivor - B-26K/A-26A Special Kay
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- Опубліковано 27 січ 2019
- One of the warbird highlights at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2018 was Special Kay, the only flying Douglas B-26K/A-26A Invader in the world. This twin-engine medium bomber/attack aircraft has been recently restored to its mid-’60s U.S. Air Force glory, and honors the veterans who flew the type out of bases in Thailand during the Vietnam War. When the Thai government expressed objections to basing foreign bombers on their soil, the U.S. Air Force obliged by redesignating the Invaders as attack aircraft, hence the move from B-26K to A-26A. Read more about it in the February issue of Warbirds Magazine.
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This is perhaps the least known most rare WWII aircraft.
You guys really did yourselves good posting this video.
Glad to see one still exists.
@Richard Peck Yes, WWII (A26). But rebuilt and modified for SEA.
Outstanding looking Aircraft, My Father worked on the B-26K in the late 60's. Keep Her Flying !!!
Just re-greased the bomb bay doors on Kay yesterday.
Incredible! Sadly, never got to see one during my 14 months TDY (temporary duty) at Ubon RTAFB in 1972-73. I was a young F-4E Phantom fighter jet crew chief from Seymour Johnson AFB in North Carolina. This was during President Nixon's massive Linebacker 1 & 2 aerial campaigns meant to crush North Vietnam's brutal March '72 push into South Vietnam, called the Eastertide offensive.
During that time I got to see some interesting older warbirds, such as the A-1E Skyraider, AC-47 gunship, and a mysterious group of unmarked gray T-28 trainers sporting fangs! They were equipped with four IIRC .50 caliber wing-mounted machine guns and 4 or 6 wing pylons for carrying external ordinance. We were told they were CIA aircraft and were flown by Thai pilots. Yep, it was interesting to see and hear the lovely rumble of old radial engine warbirds mixed in with the turboprops and fastest jets of the period. The proud A-1E pilots typically wore a long white scarf that would dance around in the prop wash as he taxied in with his canopy open, reminding me of the swaggering confident WWI aces. :)
Yeah I believe they flew with ARVN or CIA. I met a Thai bus driver in Bangkok who once worked at the base in Ubon. I was practicing my Thai with Texas accent. He says: "Sorry Joe, no savvy". His English was pretty good so we conversed in that. He spotted my Texas accent in one sentence, lol.
Hats off to you guys for rescueing this plane and keeping it in the sky. A true one and only.
Saw her flying at the Terrell Fly-In last year! Majestic beast!
Incredible restoration!
She is simply stunning. Boy would I ever love to see those 8 .50's fired at once.
My Dad said they would smoke up the cockpit when they fired them. He was an A26 navigator stationed at NKP. (1968/69)
yeah, as long as they weren't shooting at me.....
The guns said; "Git me some of that Tin! And plant more rubber trees where my bomb craters are. US yobs will be goin' to China soon after Nixon visits, so..."
Here in the UK a TV show called time team dug up a crashed WW2 version - it had collided with another one from the same squadron during a mission and ended up buried in moorland. Interesting plane .
Congratulations for bringing this beauty back to the air. 🔝👍😎
always loved the A-26. it was such a good plane that they wore them all out. Just imagine a Modern updated version with turboprops and much stronger wings with triple redundancy control system like the A-10.
Hurlburt field turned out alot of aircraft in special ops! Proud to have served at Hurlburt assigned to weapons shop on AC 130H gunships, MC 130 E combat talons and HH 53 Pave Low Helos!!!
Thanks for making it fly again,sir.
god bless you fellas from lancashire england
What a beautiful aircraft! I'd love to see her come to this year's Offutt Airshow.
Good morning to all from SE Louisiana 21 Sep 22.
3rd Bomb group saw action in Korea. A26s got caught up with by Mig 15s. Gunners got confirmed kills
Three Presidential Unit Citations for actions June 27-July 31, 1950; April 22-July 8, 1951; and May 1-July 27, 1953.Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation for period June 27-July 31, 1950.
Squadrons active with the 3rd in Korea are as follows:
8th Bombardment Squadron
13th Bombardment Squadron
90th Bombardment Squadron
731st Bombardment Squadron
These and the A-1, the last of the piston engine attack aircraft...
Salute!
She’s gorgeous!
Friends w/her”Daddy”Chuck.A real character.
It would be awesome to see a fully operational A 26K.
Show, B26 - A26, Like...
She's technically both. During WWII there was the Martin B-26 Marauder and the Douglas A-26 Invader. After the war, in September 1947 the B-26's were retired and the A-26's that were still in service all were redesigned as B-26 Invaders. During Vietnam to keep the King of Thailand happy (he didn't want additional bombers on Thai airbases) they were designated back to the original A-26 as K models.
No No No Sir. The A-26 first flew in July 1942, not 41. And A-26 (b-26) were NOT used primarily as gunnery training in Korea, they were HEAVILY used in Combat in Korea flying with the 90th, 95th and 452nd bomb squadrons and you sir, recognizing B-26s as only training squadrons is an insult and disrespect to those B-26 crews who fought and lost their lives IN COMBAT in Korea. By the way, The P-47M and P-47N both used in WW2 were WAY faster than the P-51 and neither had a Laminar flow wing.
Is it the same plane that were retrofitted at a private field in Texas in 1960~61, to take action during the Bay of Pigs?
Would have loved to have her cleared for some passes in front of the crowd should she return to Osh.
That nose reminds me of the A10
O F F THE HEAVY ROCK. Out of context PERIOD