Douglas A-26C Invader/On Mark Marksman

After the success of the A-20 Havoc, Douglas Aircraft began design of a successor, with an eye towards an aircraft that also would be able to replace the North American B-25 Mitchell and Martin B-26 Marauder as well. Using the A-20 as a model and drawing on experience with the deHavilland Mosquito as well, famed aircraft designer Edward Heinemann came up with a light bomber design that could be flown by a single pilot. Though similar to the Havoc, the XA-26 Invader had a slightly wider fuselage, larger tail, and laminar-flow wings for better stability in dives. Since Douglas could build on the A-20’s success, testing went smoothly and the US Army Air Force was suitably impressed by its maiden flight in July 1942.

 

By this time, however, units in the Pacific had demonstrated the lethality of purpose-built low-level attack aircraft with massive forward armament, so the USAAF asked Douglas to develop the A-26 into a strafer as well. Douglas responded with two variants: the A-26B, with a solid gun nose that could carry anything from machine guns to a 75mm antitank gun, and the A-26C, with a glass nose for medium-altitude bombing. The noses themselves could be quickly exchanged to switch A-26Bs to A-26C bombers, and vice-versa. As in the A-20, a crew of three was provided, with the flight crew (the pilot and navigator/bombardier) forward and the gunner in a separate compartment in the rear, controlling both the remote dorsal and ventral turrets. A-26Cs could carry two guns in the nose, but these were deleted in production variants for four wing-mounted machine guns, which were also included in A-26Bs.

 

Douglas’ commitment to building transport aircraft and the modification of the XA-26A to the B/C dual variant delayed introduction to service until September 1944 in Europe, by which time the A-26 would be operating from newly-liberated bases in France and Italy. Though it arrived late, the A-26s in Europe saw significant action in the Battle of the Bulge and the final drive into Germany, operating mostly as medium bombers and occasionally as night interdiction aircraft. It showed enough potential that, much as Douglas had hoped, it replaced the A-20, B-25, and B-26 in USAAF service, remaining in postwar production.

 

Though the A-26 had seen World War II service, most of its combat record would be after that war—namely in Korea. The 3rd Bombardment Group, based in Japan in June 1950, saw its A-26s rapidly deployed for Korean service, and undertook the first US Air Force attack on North Korea itself. The A-26 force was quickly augmented by aircraft deployed from the United States, and these undertook bombing sorties in the battles to hold the Pusan Perimeter and in the Inchon invasion. As the Korean War became a stalemate, and due to the interdiction campaign happening in North Korea, Communist forces were forced to resupply mostly at night, and the USAF A-26s in theater were switched to night interdiction operations. These were extremely dangerous in the mountainous Korean Peninsula, to say nothing of the danger from ground fire. Usually, A-26s would operate in hunter-killer teams, with one aircraft using a wing-mounted searchlight to illuminate a target while the other made its attack. A-26s also bookended the Korean War by becoming the last USAF aircraft to attack targets in North Korea, just before the armistice was signed.

 

By the time of American involvement in Southeast Asia, the A-26 had been redesignated B-26 (this had happened during the Korean War, but it was generally referred to by its former designation). RB-26Cs were among the first USAF aircraft deployed to the area, in 1960, first seeing service under Operation Farm Gate, supporting Royal Laotian Army forces against Pathet Lao guerillas. Later, Farm Gate was expanded to South Vietnam as well and B-26C bombers were deployed for service as well—despite their age, the Invaders were liked for their easy handling and long loiter times, both valuable and necessary in counterinsurgency warfare. (The USAF was not the first nation to use Invaders in Vietnam—the French had used them during the siege of Dien Bien Phu in 1954.)

 

Age caught up to the force by 1965, and after a number of fatal crashes caused by metal fatigue, the B-26 force was grounded. They were then modified to A-26K Counter-Invaders, with new engines, reinforced structure, and wingtip fuel tanks (and further confusing the matter by readopting the attack designation). Returning to Vietnam in 1966, A-26Ks would remain in service until 1970, gradually replaced by gunship AC-130s, and turned in an excellent performance in the counterinsurgency role. The last A-26 did not leave USAF service until 1972.

 

A total of 2452 Invaders had been built, and besides its American and French service, others were used in African colonial wars (namely in Angola and Nigeria) and by Indonesia in its invasion of East Timor in 1976, the last time A-26s were used in combat. The CIA also used them in covert operations, especially in the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of 1961. A good number of A-26s were sold as surplus after the Vietnam War and were subsequently converted to firefighting aircraft. Though most of these have been retired in recent years, it ensured that there would be significant numbers of flyable Invaders left. Today, 96 aircraft remain in museums and in private collections.

 

A-26B 44-34713 was delivered to the USAAF in July 1945, just before World War II ended, but remained with the postwar USAF, converted (and redesignated) as a B-26C. It is not known if 44-34713 saw service in Korea, but in 1954, it was loaned to the French Armee de l'Air for combat duty in Indochina--later known as Vietnam. After flying in Indochina for a year, it was returned to the USAF and went into storage at Clark AFB in the Philippines; in 1958, it was declared surplus and sold off to a private owner, who turned it into an executive transport. It briefly appeared in the James Garner and Natalie Wood romance movie "Cash McCall" in 1960.

 

In 1963, 44-34713's second career as an executive transport truly began, when it became the second A-26 to be converted to an On-Mark Marksman. The Marksman conversion was a major alteration to the standard A-26 airframe, removing all military vestiges, changing the interior wing spar to a circular one to improve passenger comfort, a larger rudder, pressurizing the aircraft, adding loading stairs through the former bomb bay, and streamlining the upper fuselage. The nose was extended to accomodate luggage, while the cockpit windows were replaced by those from a DC-6. The result was an almost completely new aircraft. From 1963 to 1987, 44-34713 flew with a number of owners as a Marksman.

 

As there were not many A-26s left by the late 1980s, in 1988, 44-34713 was obtained by the National Warplane Museum in Geneseo, New York. (As it is listed briefly as property of the Wayne County Sheriff's Department in Michigan, it may have been seized.) 44-34713 was due to be restored back to its appearance as an A-26, and the Marksman nose and canopy was replaced by an A-26 gun nose. Restoration went no further than that when it was acquired by a new owner in Texas in 1992, and by 2002 it was stored at Las Cruces Municipal Airport, New Mexico.

 

And there 44-34713 has remained. It is still owned, possibly by Southwest Aviation, and restoration work may still be proceeding, though the desert sun has taken its toll on the aircraft over 20 years. It still wears the dark blue scheme of its last owner as a Marksman, dating from 1984.

 

I had seen this aircraft on Google Maps (while looking for a nonexistent F-100), and initially had decided against a side trip to see if I could get a decent picture. It was a spur of the moment decision, and it paid off, not just with 44-34713, but also the PV-2 present at Las Cruces. I didn't know it at the time, but with this picture and one taken a few days later in Phoenix, I have photographed two out of three known remaining On-Mark Marksmen

Done