B-26K Counter-Invader Restoration ("Special K")

Rod Schneider · **Posted:** Sun Feb 16, 2014 10:00 pm

A26 Special K wrote:

Ichabod Crane is now fully operational so we look forward to pulling the left engine as soon as possible and beginning the repairs to the nacelle. Meanwhile, work continues on the avionics and we found that our shark fin attenna doesn't line up with the old holes exactly. Go figure. But Ray is working out a plan to build some doubler plates so we can get that part done soon. It is always something that comes up to slow us down. Today, the hangar was re-spotted by the VFM troops to make room for some new visitors. Expect an annoucement that will blow your socks off soon. Also, wanted to mention that the A-3D in the background of the picture is being restored by the A-3 Navy Vets group for display here at the museum. It will remain outside, but there are some plans to eventually get it covered. Exciting times at Meacham. Lastly, the CAF A-26 is scheduled to launch some time in the afternoon on Friday for the Brownsville airshow this weekend. Drop by if you get an opportunity. R2800 noise is always good noise!! :-)

JR

Hmmm......would the announcement be related to this? viewtopic.php?f=3&t=52255

A26 Special K · **Joined:** Wed Nov 16, 2011 8:27 pm **Posts:** 2552

Most of what your friend "heard" is not quite true. See the other thread about this topic where the Cav people tell the story from their viewpoint. The matter of moving to VFM has not been completely finalized so how about we just wait for the deal to be announced. We would welcome the B-24 and B-29 to the hangar though, if they want to come. Can't have too many airplanes and the people who work on them... unless there is a hail storm headed toward the ramp. :-)

That could make things a little dicey if we are all in town at the same time. Anyway, I spent some quality time today running thru checklists and cockpit fam in BUBA, the CAF A-26. Might get some engine test runs tomorrow and hopefully a test flight this week. If that goes ok, should head to Brownsville for the airshow on Friday. It will be nice to be out on the ramp again yakkin with folks and getting their stories about their dads or grandpa's, and maybe a mom or grandma or two. And of course, we want to tell the story of the A-26. JR

Obergrafeter · **Posted:** Mon Feb 17, 2014 9:14 pm

We would welcome the B-24 and B-29 to the hangar though, if they want to come. Can't have too many airplanes and the people who work on them... unless there is a hail storm headed toward the ramp. :-)

That could make things a little dicey if we are all in town at the same time.

What happened to the CAF requirement for all its' aircraft to be hangared?

A26 Special K · **Joined:** Wed Nov 16, 2011 8:27 pm **Posts:** 2552

Obergrafeter wrote:

We would welcome the B-24 and B-29 to the hangar though, if they want to come. Can't have too many airplanes and the people who work on them... unless there is a hail storm headed toward the ramp. :-)

That could make things a little dicey if we are all in town at the same time.

What happened to the CAF requirement for all its' aircraft to be hangared?

Ober... no change that I know about. It would just be a very tight fit to get everybody in during a storm. Some of the non flying VFM museum airplanes will probably get moved to the N hangar to help out. All of this is temporary anyway if it happens. So I guess it is a little like having a big brother and sister coming to live with you for awhile. You know how that goes. Regards, JR

Obergrafeter · **Posted:** Mon Feb 17, 2014 9:39 pm

[quote=" So I guess it is a little like having a big brother and sister coming to live with you for awhile.

Not too bad unless you are the one that gets stuck sleeping on the couch!

rdennard · **Posted:** Tue Feb 18, 2014 7:03 pm

Seeing that pic of 670 sitting in the "Boneyard" always makes me sad. I saw it sitting there in early 1970 right after I left NKP and was on my way to Germany. (Strange transfer huh.)

About the red propeller warning stripe and other markings... I never saw any of that while at NKP. At least not that I can remember. Perhaps it was painted that way for a bit while the A/C was with the CCTS squadron stateside. Before going to NKP I went TDY to Englund AFB, Louisiana for 2 weeks of A-26 training. I have some vague memory that the aircraft had that kind of painting while I was there. (Perhaps that will jog Randy's memory of something like that.)

I am currently sitting in Bangkok revisiting points of previous crimes. I'm on my way to revisit NKP, several other former bases in Thailand... as well as the Ho Chi Minh trail. I'm writing about it as I go in a blog. In case any of you want to follow along, here's the link:

http://www.kokomoman.com/wordpress1/?p=191

A26 Special K · **Joined:** Wed Nov 16, 2011 8:27 pm **Posts:** 2552

rdennard wrote:

Seeing that pic of 670 sitting in the "Boneyard" always makes me sad. I saw it sitting there in early 1970 right after I left NKP and was on my way to Germany. (Strange transfer huh.)

About the red propeller warning stripe and other markings... I never saw any of that while at NKP. At least not that I can remember. Perhaps it was painted that way for a bit while the A/C was with the CCTS squadron stateside. Before going to NKP I went TDY to Englund AFB, Louisiana for 2 weeks of A-26 training. I have some vague memory that the aircraft had that kind of painting while I was there. (Perhaps that will jog Randy's memory of something like that.)

I am currently sitting in Bangkok revisiting points of previous crimes. I'm on my way to revisit NKP, several other former bases in Thailand... as well as the Ho Chi Minh trail. I'm writing about it as I go in a blog. In case any of you want to follow along, here's the link:

http://www.kokomoman.com/wordpress1/?p=191

Bob: thanks for the blog link. Will try to follow you around. Hope you get lots of good pics and will share with us. Thanks, JR

A26 Special K · **Joined:** Wed Nov 16, 2011 8:27 pm **Posts:** 2552

How about a nice new tailskid for K?? JR found a "new in the box still" "ginuwine" tailskid for us. Looks like we will have to remove the old mounting plate that the former tailskid had and was probably scraped off during the Macon, GA crash landing and maybe clean up the tie down ring of a little rust. Then it should mount right up. Yippee! The other JR

NImrodA26 · **Posted:** Tue Feb 18, 2014 9:56 pm

.............About the red propeller warning stripe and other markings... I never saw any of that while at NKP. At least not that I can remember..........
=============
Can't say as I remember the prop stripes either, but just because I don't remember them doesn't mean they weren't there!!
None of the pics I have show it. 676 doesn't appear to have it either. One thing I do clearly remember when training on the guns and working around the plane was them hammering home to us to "Never walk through a prop arc when working around the plane. Always walk around the nacelle when going from front to back or vice a versa." They said in effect that if we were concentrating on something else, we might just walk through it when the engine was running and that would ruin your day. Another reason I was told was that if a hot engine was shut down, there was a possiblity that if fuel leaked into a cylinder, it was a possibility that it could "Kick" the prop even with the engine off. Don't know if that was fact or not, but I took their advice.

Hope you have a good trip Bob, drink a couple Singhas for me at NKP!! (and stay out of Johnnys Bungalow!!!)

CAPFlyer · **Posted:** Wed Feb 19, 2014 6:40 pm

That looks like a purdy skid there. Keep updating. I love following the work you guys are doing!

Speaking of walking through the prop arc (and yes, I'm guilty of it myself), when I first started working on the ramp with Air Wisconsin, it was made very clear that if you walked through the prop arc of one of the Do-328's that it was grounds for immediate termination - to which less than a week later someone (with about 3 years seniority) got fired for doing exactly that.

I understand that there are a couple planes out there you really don't have a choice if you want to get in the cockpit (Beech 99), but I wish more operators would be a bit more proactive in keeping people out of the prop arc for the exact reasons listed.

rdennard · **Posted:** Wed Feb 19, 2014 8:07 pm

If there's still a Johnny's Bungalow I WILL go in there. Of course I may not remember what I'm supposed to be there for, but I'll go in just the same. And... the first thing I did when I got here (I'm writing from Chiang Mai) was to have a Singha. But you won't believe it... they now make bottled water. The place will never be the same.

About those props... What Randy said was true. Everyone had fear of the props instilled in them. I suppose that's a good thing... especially for those of us that had to be around the running engines. They told everyone that didn't absolutely have to be there just to stay way-away from the props at all times... running or not. For me there was never any formal training... just some old sarge telling war stories about how it would ruin our day if we walked into a prop.

We did have one guy that was hit by a prop and lived to tell about. I should say he was "nicked" by a prop. During a start, he inched a tad too close as the engine was starting and it thumped him on the chest just as the engine fired up. It didn't break anything but knocked him on his ass. I think he probably needed clean out his pants too. After X-rays he was back to work that day. (Hummmm... I suppose that's some old sarge telling a war story.)

Obergrafeter · **Posted:** Wed Feb 19, 2014 9:16 pm

Props are there for only two things..................cool the pilot, and kill un safe ground crew.

hawkeyepoole · **Posted:** Thu Feb 20, 2014 1:12 am

A26 Special K wrote:

Just thought I would throw this in since we showed K's throttle quadrant a few posts earlier on this page. This quadrant is out of BUBA, a B model A-26 that belongs to the Invader Sqdn here in Ft Worth. I am going to fly it also cause you just can't get enough A-26 flying, right? Somebody told me that chicks dig warbirds but they like the 26 best of all cause you can haul a party!! Whoohoooooo. So anyway, sorry I got carried away. What I was trying to show is that all the levers: throttle, props and mixtures have round balls at the tops... and that's where the expression came from about "Balls to the Walls". When wanting to go fast as say when somebody is shooting at you, the pilot would push all these levers up as far as they would go, hence the derivation of the expression. And all this time, you thought it meant something else, didn't you!! Tsk, Tsk. K on the other hand is a product of a little more ergonomic thinking so each kind of lever has a different feel to it. Regardless, the process is the same, but "Everything Forward" just doesn't have the same ring to it! That's the price of progress! We will be working on K tomorrow (Sat) and the Invader guys will also be working on BUBA so come on by the museum hangar at Meacham and get two for the price of one trip!! JR

Actually "Balls to the wall" is a steam engine term related to the rotating balls on the speed governor. It is frequently referred to as the balls on the aircraft controls but predates those controls. you will find reference to both in references although since the term has been used since the late 1800's it's unlikely to refer to WWII aircraft. There are quite a few references to the term before 1900. I'm not only interested in airplanes, but anything that makes cool mechanical noises! Planes, Trains and Automobiles! Your dedicated video guy. Hawkeye.

P.S. I will post some new video "real soon now"

hawkeyepoole · **Posted:** Thu Feb 20, 2014 1:18 am

Mark Allen M wrote:

Thx for the info JR and indeed I shall look to see what I can dig up. In the mean time here's a few more photos to research.

A-26 0-34632 Wilmington_ NC 1954 (BW)

A-26's

EB-26C Wright Air Development Ctr_ c_1955

b-26c 43-22609 wilmington nc 1948

B-26C 44-35614 SAC Wilmington,NC 1949

B-26B 41-39491 SC ANG Wilmington,NC 1948

B-26 44-35614 Wilmington, NC 1948

A-26C 44-34642 Tucson, AZ April 1969

The A-26 in any configuration is a beautiful airplane! What a work of warbird art.

hawkeyepoole · **Posted:** Thu Feb 20, 2014 1:31 am

There was a post earlier about Farm Gate. I interviewed the gentleman mentioned in the post. His name is Maurice Bourne. An awesome and humble man. His story is MUCH more than I can write here! Watch my 20 min interview of him here: https://vimeo.com/channels/nimrods/11069761 He told his story publicly for the first time ever for me. This is well before restoration had begun. He's still with us, and running a business at the young age of 80+. His history includes time in the 'white airplanes'......

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B-26K Counter-Invader Restoration ("Special K")

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