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

[Archer]

So that's where she was. I came over to Meacham on Friday but unfortunately the larger aircraft were nowhere to be seen. I enjoyed my visit to the museum but the big hangar was quite empty. The funny thing is that I left DFW on Sunday, snapped a photo of the ramp area that appeared to have a B-52 and some other hardware parked on it, and only just now spotted Special Kay on that photo!

[A26 Special K]

Yes, a lot of airplanes were leaving Sun and Monday. Otherwise, that ramp would have been much more crowded from Sat at Skyball. We haven’t heard yet how much money was raised to support distressed military families, but a guess well north of two million is not unrealistic. We are proud to be a part of this effort.

[A26 Special K]

We are looking ahead to next season and have started contacting shows with a fairly good response. Luke AFB is interested in Kay and the T-33 in March. Dyess AFB is on the list in April. Still trying to confirm Laughlin. Selfridge ANGB is for sure in June. So progress is being made. If you have contacts with other show directors, please pass along our availability. Thx for your help!

[Warbird Kid]

We are looking ahead to next season and have started contacting shows with a fairly good response. Luke AFB is interested in Kay and the T-33 in March. Dyess AFB is on the list in April. Still trying to confirm Laughlin. Selfridge ANGB is for sure in June. So progress is being made. If you have contacts with other show directors, please pass along our availability. Thx for your help!

Would love for a show in the North East to pick you guys up. Preferably Geneseo. Would be cool to see a Vietnam display with some of the other local birds in the area.

C-123 AHM
B-26K VFM
AT-28D AAM

Anything else in the area? (UH-1, AH-1, L-16, O-2, OH-6, AC-47, Mig 15, Mig 17, etc?)

[kalamazookid]

We are looking ahead to next season and have started contacting shows with a fairly good response. Luke AFB is interested in Kay and the T-33 in March. Dyess AFB is on the list in April. Still trying to confirm Laughlin. Selfridge ANGB is for sure in June. So progress is being made. If you have contacts with other show directors, please pass along our availability. Thx for your help!

See you at Selfridge!

Thanks for sharing updates on Special Kay. I enjoy following the news here and on Facebook.

[A26 Special K]

We are at Wings Over Dallas this coming Sat/Sun. Kay is still in maintenance but the T-33 should be there if the weather lifts tomorrow. It is supposed to be sunny this weekend so should be just fine to get the show in the air. The CAF will have a number of WW2 aircraft in the show with emphasis on the Pacific this year. There will be two A-26’s in the mix. We will keep a close eye on the weather and get the 33 moved asap. It was derived from the P-80 which flew in 1944, but was not used in combat. So technically, it is a WW2 era airplane. The CAF has a T-33 being restored to fly. That would be awesome to have them fly together at a future show! Come on out and visit with us beside the fastest airplane there!

[A26 Special K]

Sun came out and ceiling is lifting! Come on out to Wings Over DALLAS! T-33 should arrive soon. Kay will not be there. Still down for mechanical. It is a two day show and tomorrow’s weather should be even better! Come on out to see the flying legends of WW2!

[A26 Special K]

The CAF Wings over Dallas show turned out a success after the weather threatened early on. The T-33 had many visitors both days. It will return home to Meacham probably Friday since the weather has turned cold, wet and low ceilings abound. Kay is in the VFM hangar ready to start winter maintenance. The bomb bay doors will come off and new seals will be installed. The gun nose will also be removed so we can install the missing canvas separator that rotted away eons ago. The nose was designed to be interchangeable with a glass bombardier nose, but that is not our plan. We have some cylinders to change on the left engine and both carbs will be sent out for their annual checkup. Then we have all the usual inspection items to go through. Finally, the paint will get a touch up from Kevin Miller’s KM Aircraft paint shop. There is a lot to do before the next show season starts. We are looking for a few good A & P’s to help with Kay and the T-33. Come out on a Saturday if you can help get them flying again.

[fwnelson]

Hi
Thanks for the update on the airshow schedule for Special Kay.

[A26 Special K]

Team Kay is deep into the IRAN portion of winter maintenance, plus we are getting some of the other restoration items that we postponed, but are cosmetic mostly. Progress is slow but coming along. The T-33 brake job hit a snag and needs some other parts that we will have to hunt down. Had hoped to fly this week but no can do. Check out our progress each week on our public Facebook page. No login required.
http://www.facebook.com/a26specialkay

[A26 Special K]

Had a pleasant visit to the Lone Star Flight Museum at Ellington Field in Houston yesterday. If you have not been, it is worth the trip. Got a chance to ride on their B-25. It remains high on our list of favorite airplanes to fly as we miss our old B-25 formerly known as Pacific Prowler. Got a chance to see the Galveston area. We sure need to get Kay down there for a visit!

[A26 Special K]

It was a good weekend for the team. Many projects are underway. We are basically overhauling the bombbay area and doors. We will finally get the doors painted while preserving the original placards and stencils. The nosewheel area will also catch some paint. The nose gear will come out for that and a checkup since this is a known failure problem for the A-26. The gun nose is off for touch up work inside of it. The guns and ammo boxes are the most photographed part of the airplane when the bay door is open at an airshow. The cockpit floor will get new paint as well. We have had several thousand visitors tour the cockpit so there is quite a bit of wear on the paint from the last three years. We are working diligently to have her show ready by the end of March.

[A26 Special K]

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Kay Crew. We have taken a little time off to be with families for the holidays. Hope you have had the same opportunity. We should be back at it next week. Still lots to do. The bomb bay doors are getting some TLC and new paint with care being taken to preserve the original placards. Some electrical issues are being worked. There are sheet metal projects galore. In the meantime, many of our guys are helping the DC-3 crew with the nightly Christmas Lights flights over Ft Worth and Arlington. This will continue thru New Years Eve. If you would like to schedule a flight, check out the website scheduler. http://www.gga1.org

[A26 Special K]

Well this was an exciting day. Congresswoman Kay Granger had a production crew in the hangar to video some reelection campaign ads. She used Kay for one of the shots and the T-33 for another one. So this should be interesting to see when they start airing on tv. We had to keep the noise down when they were shooting, but several groups were still working hard. Buba and the O-2 got a lot done. Ray, our metal magician was doing his usual good work on some repairs in the nose compartment that were found when we removed the nose. Heavy inspections continue!

[martin_sam_2000]

Excited to see Special Kay in person at the Selfridge show! Been following your progress for years now. Keep it up!

Sean