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

[A26 Special K]

Well, sad to report we did not make history Saturday. Couldn’t get four A-26’s together. Two had prop issues and two arrived at Chickasha including Kay. But one broke a gear door so it was left to Kay to fly in the show. We were late arriving due to weather so there wasn’t much time to get our swag sales or cockpit tours going before the Airboss wanted us to start early. Scrambling to reload, one of our members who drove up, took our PX home in his car. So we launched, did our two passes and headed home. Last year, the attendance was about 3600+ roughly, but it hit over 5500 this time. Not bad for a town of about 16,000. Small town shows are usually a lot of fun because we can visit withe folks up close and personal. Sorry to be so rushed this time. Like to return for another try next year!

[A26 Special K]

Kay will be flying up to Frederick, OK on 16 July for the 100th birthday celebration for David Hamilton, the last of the D Day Pathfinder pilots who also flew A-26’s in Korea. The WW2 Airborne Demonstration Organization is hosting this event. Next we are going to Great Falls, Montana, for a show up there on 23 July with a return on 25 July. We will probably stop on the way up at Dodge City for fuel. One unique feature about this trip, our copilot will be a woman. This is the first time a female pilot has flown a K model in a show as far as we can determine. She is well qualified to do so. Stay tuned or check out our Facebook page for more.

[A26 Special K]

Kay heads to Great Falls, MT on Friday, 22 July with an early morning stop in Dodge City, KS and a late morning stop in Greybull, WY. Greybull is the former home of Hawkins and Powers. Among other planes they flew besides the C-119 with a jet engine on top (think movie Always), C-130A’s, and PB4Y’s, A-26’s were in the mix as well. On our way back on Monday, we will overfly Yellowstone and probably stop in Greeley, CO, then Dodge city again before making it home to Ft Worth. This may be the best trip of the year. Be sure to see us at Great Falls if you are close. The Thunderbirds are the main attraction.

[A26 Special K]

Slight change in flight plan. On the way home on the 25th, after Greeley, we will go direct Fort Worth instead of routing thru Dodge city. We will stop in Dodge on the way Friday.

[A26 Special K]

We had two great shows in Great Falls. Outran a Mustang in the dive for speed on a low pass! Grin grin! We have been treated very nicely and discovered there are mermaids in Montana! See our Facebook Pg for photos.

[Zac Yates]

I finally watched the Erik Johnston walkaround video. Great hosting and tour-guiding, Chuck! It was great to put a face to the name and learn so much more about Kay.

[A26 Special K]

It has been awhile since the last report. We have been very busy doing airshows and fixing things that tend to happen to a 77 year old airplane. We had successful outings to Rapid City, SD, and Great Falls, MT. This coming w/e has a training flight scheduled on Friday, an appearance Sat at the T-28 Gathering at Midlothian’s Midway airport. Then off to the Midland on Sun for the CAF show there. At the end of Sept, Kay and the T-33 go to McConnell AFB show as statics. Oct 8 is the Corsicana show. Oct 15 is the VFM Hangar Dance where Kay is the backdrop behind the band. The next day, we will take those A-26 vets who came to the reunion for a ride around the patch. The last w/e we go to Wings over Houston. Final show is Wings over Dallas in mid Nov. Lots of maintenance before and after each event. So there you have it.

[A26 Special K]

Last evening, Kay had the left gear collapse upon landing at Meacham. There is significant damage to the left nacelle cap and bottom plus the left tip tank. Of course the left engine and prop were included. We had a great deal of difficulty getting her picked up and moved to the hangar as all of the usual aircraft recovery services were busy with other accidents. We ended up with two big wreckers and a semi trailer but got it moved. We have canceled all shows for the rest of the year and next. It will take some time to get a detailed list of parts needed and make the repairs since we are an all volunteer group that typically works on Saturday’s. The left engine will have to be overhauled and prop replaced we know for sure. That can take nearly a year to do. Funding will be another issue. More details as we get time to do a proper assessment.

[Craig59]

So glad that all involved are okay. You folks are an amazing team and we all WIXers know we will see her rise again.

[Hooligan2]

Really sorry to hear the news, just glad it's not any worse. Best of luck with getting her sorted...

[Jeremy S]

Last evening, Kay had the left gear collapse upon landing at Meacham. There is significant damage to the left nacelle cap and bottom plus the left tip tank. Of course the left engine and prop were included. We had a great deal of difficulty getting her picked up and moved to the hangar as all of the usual aircraft recovery services were busy with other accidents. We ended up with two big wreckers and a semi trailer but got it moved. We have canceled all shows for the rest of the year and next. It will take some time to get a detailed list of parts needed and make the repairs since we are an all volunteer group that typically works on Saturday’s. The left engine will have to be overhauled and prop replaced we know for sure. That can take nearly a year to do. Funding will be another issue. More details as we get time to do a proper assessment.

Awful news. Most importantly, everyone walked away safe.

Once you evaluate the damage and come up with a plan, start a GoFundMe and I will be happy to donate and spread the word.

[OZFURYFAN]

Any update on the cause of the gear collapse, curious from a maintainers perspective, very hopeful damage is minimal and you guys get K back in the air soon!

[A26 Special K]

We have removed the damaged end of the nacelle and the tangled mess of the gear actuating mechanism plus gear leg. The leg looks ok but we will disassemble for NDT. Most of the other pieces will have to be replaced if we can find them or might have to have them built from scratch. The trunnion arm is bent from the wheel getting stuck between the end cap and gear door. The trunnion supports will have to be made from scratch where it pulled out. We have done this part before that was cracked and left over from the previous gear collapse back in the 90’s. The downlock lever arm was bent so it is hard to tell if that started the sequence or was the result of event. Doesn’t really matter. It is broke and we will fix it so no use speculating. We are trying to focus on finding gear parts. If you have any real leads, please reply here or by PM. Thx

[A26 Special K]

Progress has been slow on the repairs. Finding the main gear parts we need have slowed everything down. We can’t remove the prop, for instance, until we fix the gear so we can turn her around in the hangar. It seems we keep getting interrupted by numerous outside events that take our team members away. We lost friends at Wings over Dallas. We just found out that Colonel Joe Kittinger has passed away. He flew Kay in training before going back for a second tour in the Vietnam war. We regret not being able to do a flyover for his memorial. Please remember his wife Sherry and the rest of his family in your prayers.

[A26 Special K]

For those who don’t follow our reports on Kay’s Facebook page, we had a successful fund raising campaign. We raised over $100,000 to match a grant of another $100,000. This will go a long way towards the parts and repairs needed. Some of the gear parts we need were found and shipped to Fort Worth. Just waiting on Estes Freight to deliver. We are opening up the wing to do an eddy current check on the spars. That will lead us to the next step to take. Will try to post more updates, but it is slow going right now as we are in need of more manpower. We have several projects that need to be done. If you have experience working on old airplanes and are available on Saturdays, come see us at the Vintage Flying Museum in Fort Worth. Ask for JR, our Crew Chief. Thx