In-depth Tour: Douglas A-26

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6 жыл бұрын

The only airworthy A-26 was on display at AirVenture 2018 and J.R. Hoffman gave AVweb's Baxter Van West and Ashley Anglisano a walkaround/cockpit tour. This A-26 is a On Mark Engineering-modified aircraft that was used in Vietnam, and is equipped with modern avionics, including ADS-B.
Here's a video report.

Пікірлер: 97

@opalprestonshirley1700 5 жыл бұрын

She's a beauty. I remember seeing the A-26 at Hulbert field in Fla. in the 60's. Glad you brought her back.

@humbledtrader760 6 жыл бұрын

What a beautiful piece of history. Thank you for the tour 🙏🏻

@michaelland9667 4 жыл бұрын

As an Air Traffic Controller in NKP 50 years ago, I had the honor and privledge of commnication with many NIMROD pilots , and actually toured this A-26 last year last year at Oskgosh. Outstanding restoration and tribute to this airplane. Well done !

@billdavis9734 3 жыл бұрын

I too was a Hydraulic Technician at NKP from '67 to '70 on the A-26-K Nimrods and other WW2 aircraft at that time. Great to meet you . Loved the A-26-K with multiple disk brake systems,etc.

@eodmax Жыл бұрын

@@billdavis9734 I was a Munitions Maintenance Specialist TDY to NKP in Sept 67 on manning assistance.

@Javelina_Poppers 2 жыл бұрын

I worked for Garrett Turbine in the 80s and they had an A-26 with a turboprop engine installed in the nose. This was their flying test bed for their TPE-331 and T76 turboprops. Last I heard, the plane had be donated to South Mountain Community College.

@georgebecht6357 4 ай бұрын

I was a bomb loader, AFSC 46250, in the 609th (it was the 609th ACS but changed to SOS in August '68) at NKP air base from 1968 to 1969. I may have loaded napalm, other bombs and 50 cal on that plane. In the bomb bay we loaded fragmentation bombs on the side racks and an incendiary bomb on the center line bomb bay rack. Once we loaded the pilot's motorcycle in the bomb bay, (but that's another story). We painted the bottoms of the napalm bombs with black or dark green (whatever they could get) paint to camouflage them for night missions. I was awarded the Airman's medal for de-arming a napalm bomb that broke it's rear mounting lug and was leaking napalm onto the tarmac. The arming lanyard was stretched banjo tight. I cut the arming wire and removed the bomb from the wing station with a MJ-1 bomb truck. The reason they were designated A26 and not B26 in Thailand, is the Thai government did not allow bombers on their soil, so the US changed the designation to A, an attack aircraft. There is a A26 at the Air Force museum in Dayton Ohio, at Wright Patterson AFB that was at NKP.

@stacyobrien1729 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you for saving and restoring this piece of our history, well done!

@h0ll1s 6 жыл бұрын

This is super awesome! It would be so cool to take a ride in the back seat, love the mix of keeping the old avionics as well as adding in new ones, well done!

@IrishManJT 6 жыл бұрын

Absolutely fantastic restoration. Well done!

@hnguye22 2 жыл бұрын

Great job in restoring this beauty!

@Joe-uo9wv 2 жыл бұрын

I worked for Grumman years 50 years ago and they had an A-26 on their field in Bethpage NY

@Bryan-cs9to 2 жыл бұрын

Great restoration and tour

@P61guy61 5 жыл бұрын

Thank you for posting!

@dasdouble2012 6 жыл бұрын

more of that type of content. great vid

@josephmatachak537 7 ай бұрын

Big Eagle 1966 - 603rd ACS of the 1st ACW @ NKP - love this aircraft!

@paulsmith3487 10 ай бұрын

A monument to dedication!

@flyingfortressrc1794 2 жыл бұрын

Great looking restoration.

@superpoof69 2 жыл бұрын

Seen this girl fly a few times . She's impressive. I did see her with no paint once.

@aaaht3810 4 жыл бұрын

Love the A-26. That's one beautiful bird you have there.

@aaaht3810 4 жыл бұрын

@David Vance Only in my dreams but I am glad someone can.

@s0nnyburnett 6 жыл бұрын

Now THIS is what I want to see.

@AmericasChoice 3 жыл бұрын

The 1964 movie "The Train" has some really nice footage of French Air Force A-26's doing a low run at a marshaling yard.

@cobraknight69 3 жыл бұрын

The MOST beautiful twin ever built !

@spitfireaace 2 жыл бұрын

B-26 Marauder.

@peterdemkiw6858 Жыл бұрын

Well not really there's a lot of beautiful twins..

@peterdemkiw6858 Жыл бұрын

What about the P38? And the de Havilland mosquito, a much better looking aircraft.. faster too and could carry more bombs.

@kmart1319 6 жыл бұрын

Love it! What a treat to see this old bird up close. Any in start up, taxi or in-flight videos?

@JohnUllrey 3 жыл бұрын

It's only missing one thing.... The makeshift bomb sight done in grease pencil on the navigator's wind screen. At lest that's what my dad said he used ;-)

@RolandLowhorn 6 жыл бұрын

This was impressive aircraft to see in work especially during the night time as a marine on the ground it was scary . The thought does a pilot know we're here ?

@JohnUllrey 6 жыл бұрын

My Dad was a navigator in these planes around the 1968 time frame. He told me that most of their missions were over the Ho Chi Minh trail running through Laos, but at least once a month they flew missions over Vietnam so they could get the tax write off. ;-)

@RolandLowhorn 6 жыл бұрын

@@JohnUllrey Real mess in those days ,still mess of left behind by armys I wish magic could clean it up For some reason the US where concerned the communist China would take over Southeast Asia. After the US pulled out the Vietnamese protected Laos and Southeast Asia from Chinese invasion. Vietnam doesn't like China very old enemies.

@edwardhuett7924 2 ай бұрын

Had them at Nkp. Sat next to them. Both black bottom acf for night work over the trail. Zorros A-1s 22sos and nimrods sat next to each other on the fliteline. Black acft

@edwardhuett7924 2 ай бұрын

Saw them leave in Nov 69 Low level flight over base about 6 or 8 that were left. Made hair standup on your arm.

@8632tony 4 жыл бұрын

Is this the same plane that suffered a right main gear collapse while taxiing during an airshow at Meacham Field a few decades ago? If so, I'm glad it's back up and airworthy.

@lesregnerus6586 4 жыл бұрын

I saw these flying out of Nakom Phanom RTAFB

@billdavis9734 3 жыл бұрын

I worked the A26-k Nimrods at NKP . Nice to meet you.

@zeronerd1999 3 жыл бұрын

Great video. The guy in the background disappeared at 4:11

@L8Pilot 6 жыл бұрын

Love Special K

@jamesjacoby1068 4 жыл бұрын

Love the plane was mechanic on tail 651 and 645 N.K.P. 68 to 69 Nimrods fly by nights 609th.

@dennisdecker3231 3 жыл бұрын

I was stationed there during the same time frame. Nimrods (A-26) was my favorite plane during that time.

@billdavis9734 3 жыл бұрын

Hydraulic Technician on A26K Nimrods and other WW@ aircraft. Nice to meet you '67 to '70.

@martinleicht5911 Жыл бұрын

Nice !! 🍺 😎 👍 🔥🔥🔥

@notj5712 6 жыл бұрын

MIght want to rethink that main VHF antenna. Your main should be on the bottom.

@yoski203 6 жыл бұрын

since its vhf, it wont be blocked by the body

@texnician1 6 жыл бұрын

The original only had that white upper VHF antenna. We added a lower VHF in the place of an ARC 44 FM antenna that is unobtainable. It was chosen because it is approximately the same shape. The lower is the primary and and works with the GTN 650, the upper is secondary and works with the GNC 255.

@navyboieatscheese2017 3 жыл бұрын

6:41 AvWeb out of context: "We found this gunsight on eBay."

@peterdemkiw6858 Жыл бұрын

Not sure I understand the A-merican use of the word Original, many times he said it's "original and how it would have been," to than say we changed that and done this.. for instance "the aft crew compartment is exactly how it was, we've kept it a original" Than says the seats are out of a Bell helicopter. Nice aircraft though.

@bennybenitez2461 3 жыл бұрын

Yeah Concorde RG aircraft battery .

@bennybenitez2461 3 жыл бұрын

Got to come to Miami Opa Locka airport to meet a few Operation Puma / Bay of Pigs A-26 drivers

@scenicbearviewing 4 жыл бұрын

nice video but their is more a 26s that can fly are in the world

@drussell15 6 жыл бұрын

Cactus Air Force in Carson City, NV also has an airworthy A-26......

@drussell15 6 жыл бұрын

www.cactusairforce.com/inventory_item/a-26-invader/

@drussell15 6 жыл бұрын

I did listen to the video. And I watched it too. I made no claim it was another K model. Just letting everyone know that there is another great warbird out there for all to enjoy.

@drussell15 6 жыл бұрын

Ya. Positive.

@drussell15 6 жыл бұрын

especially in a helicopter

@mattinsley1721 5 жыл бұрын

@@drussell15 That is a beautiful aircraft indeed but not a K model.

@marc.wrutgers6704 6 жыл бұрын

Awesome Bird but Why did you not paint everything to new , you went through everything but it still looks partly restored

@yoski203 6 жыл бұрын

probably because as bad as it may look to you, this is still how it would look in service.

@yoski203 6 жыл бұрын

you start putting new paint on everything it takes away from the feeling of being there as it was being used in service.

@scenicbearviewing 4 жыл бұрын

because i went to a airport and saw 2 a 26s that a guy was fixing

@Tsamokie 5 жыл бұрын

"replica ordinance" Wrong. That's Navy lingo. The USAF call them munitions. Nimrods never flew with GP bombs in the bay. They were always loaded with 20lb fragmentation bomb clusters, six bombs per cluster. BTW, the BLU-23 750lb napalm bombs were always painted flat black. Shiny bright aluminum at night would be bad news.

@ILSRWY4 Жыл бұрын

in reference to the BLU-23 you better tell that to the USAF museum because theirs have the silver tanks too. And actual operation photos and 8MM movie film from NKP show silver tanks. However, in partial defense of your comment a common practice was to paint the bottoms of those tanks flat black which you can see in "some" but certainly not all of those authentic photos. regardless the tops were always silver.

@Tsamokie Жыл бұрын

@@ILSRWY4 I spent a year at NKP loading A-26s and A-1s. I speak from experience. We painted all the bottoms of all the BLU-24's and any other shiny munitions loaded on A-26s. That was because the A-26s flew their missions at night.

@cluelessbeekeeping1322 2 жыл бұрын

Is it original?

@peterdemkiw6858 Жыл бұрын

No, it has seats from a Bell helicopter in it..

@ILSRWY4 Жыл бұрын

@7:30 Wrong. only 4 out of the 6 pack here are 1940s. The Attitude indicator and the Heading indicator are NOT 1940 style gauges. Because in the 1940s they never had colored attitude indicators, only an artificial horizon and they didn't have compass rose heading indicators only direction gyros. jesus christ dude, you can see the heading indicator has a silhouette of a swept wing jet.

@IHF 2 жыл бұрын

Great video, but it's technically not an A-26K. There's no such thing as an A-26K. It's either a B-26K or an A-26A. And in your description, it's not the only airworthy A-26, just the only Airworthy A-26A. There are quite a few A-26B and A-26Cs that are airworthy.

@ILSRWY4 Жыл бұрын

You are Absolutely correct. And in fact, it was ONLY an A-26A when they were painted in that SEA 3-tone paint scheme over black, when they were sent to SEA and designated A-26A. B-26K were painted in a solid forest green top over light gray bottom.

@IHF Жыл бұрын

@@ILSRWY4 with respect, thats not 100% accurate. In May 1966 all of the B-26Ks were changed to A-26A. This was done so they could be sent to SEA, but not all of the planes actually went to NKP. The paint scheme and location wasnt a requirement for being classified as an A-26A. The 606th & 609th SOS used the 3-tone camo over black. (The 609th used tail code TA.) But the 603rd SOS at Eglin AFB used the 3-tone camo over grey and had a tail code of IF, they were also A-26A. The solid green was over a white underbelly, and there were 5 planes that retained this paint scheme as an A-26A until the spring 1967 when they were finally painted over into the 3-tone camo pattern.

@ILSRWY4 Жыл бұрын

@@IHFYes, but We are saying the same thing... "there were 5 planes that retained this paint scheme as an A-26A until the spring 1967 " I know of the 5 you talk about well, and why they were still Green. Those 5 you mention just hadn't gotten around to being painted "yet" when the official re-designation took place. My point was, when the idea of the aircraft was to be sent to SEA (whether they actually were state side or not) they were painted in SEA and re-designated A-26A. Prior to that, they were B-26K. And yes you are correct, it was a White bottom on the 2 tone scheme. I was thinking of camouflage gray FS 36622

@IHF Жыл бұрын

@@ILSRWY4 Ah, apologies friend, I misunderstood what you were saying. Yes, that's quite right. Once the planes changed designation to A-26A all of them, except the aforementioned 5, were systematically repainted into the SEA camo in fairly short order. It's a safe statement that any of those planes in the SEA camo was definitely an A-26A by designation at that point. Once those 5 returned stateside they immediately went to the depot for repainting as well.

@ILSRWY4 Жыл бұрын

@@IHF Yup Exactly! I guess what I was initially trying to say is if its in SEA scheme its an A-26A. Special K is an A-26A, not a B-26K and Certainly NOT an A-26K (LOL).

@hawkeyepoole 2 жыл бұрын

I've been with this aircraft since it arrived. It's NOT an A26K. It's an A26A or B26K! There was NEVER an A26K.

@ILSRWY4 Жыл бұрын

Actually its not even a B-26K. Because when they were sent to SEA they were re-designated A-26A and at the same time of the designation change they were painted in this 3 tone paint scheme. B-26K were painted in solid forest green top over light gray bottoms. So the only way to tell the difference between an A-26A and a B-26K is the paint scheme. ;)

@hawkeyepoole Жыл бұрын

@@ILSRWY4 It ended up as a B26K because it never went over seas. It would have been an A26A had it gone overseas. Look at the tail number. "IF" aircraft were stateside. "TA" tail numbers were in Asia. After 10 years with this aircraft, I still learn something from someone all the time. It''s the most confusing WWII aircraft I've ever encountered.

@guaporeturns9472 2 жыл бұрын

But you wouldn’t know it

@user-dl8zc8fw2k 6 ай бұрын

8~90여년 전에 어떻게 저런기술이 있었는지 외계기술이라도 습득한것인지

@DavidTaylor-mb4jt 11 ай бұрын

It was pulled from the bone yard and rebuild

@rodrigodemoraes5208 3 жыл бұрын

4:11 - Teleportation detected

@deralbtraumritter8573 3 жыл бұрын

" Modernize " This and that. I'd prefer the older stuff case they don't make them like they used to

@fredduff3899 3 жыл бұрын

War Thunder brought me here

@stranraerwal Жыл бұрын

"absolute authentic and original and exactly, all reconstructed and improved and never heard of tec..and newly restored and...blah...blah" Who do you want to sell that plane to?