Calspan had two red/ white A-26s. N9146H and N9417H. Both were used until 17H went down in 1981. 46H was apparently wfu not that long after.
I found this blog where a guy who had been somewhat involved with the Invaders posted. This is what he said about the demise of N9417H:
Just to add to the info on this Invader. It was built as s/n 44-34653. The Air Force Research Lab had the aircraft modified to a Variable Stability testbed in the early 1960s. It was used for both AFRL projects and USAF and USN Test Pilot School curriculum flights. The Calspan instructor pilot served as the safety pilot in the left seat while the right seat flight control system was programmable and used by the student or project pilot. This aircraft was used by the test pilot schools until 3 March 1981, when it disintegrated during a curriculum flight north of Edwards AFB. The left wing separated after spar failure. Unfortunately, the parachutes were normally tied down in the aft fuselage and neither the Calspan pilot or the two TPS engineering students got out. One of the engineers was a good friend of mine of mine since college. Her husband and I both became students at TPS that July.
Timing is everything. AFRL knew that this aircraft, and its sister ship TB-26B s/n 44-34165 (N9146), were at the end of their useful service life and were due to be replaced by a single variable stability Learjet with the next TPS class. The surviving variable stability A-26 is held by the Air Force Flight Test Center Museum at Edwards and is in the same markings as the aircraft that was lost. Sven Here are photos of the pair:
N9146Hhttp://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GbPcI30qhvQ/T ... 5B1%5D.jpgN9417Hhttp://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GbPcI30qhvQ/T ... n+A-26.jpgT J
Login
Register
FAQ
Search
