The Former "Spirit of Waco" A-26 has a new home!

[Pogo]

Thanks bunches for that. Aimed the guns thru a periscope? That doesn't "sound" very practical, wonder where I can learn more about it? It surprised me nobody else touched the question, guess '26 turrets turn out to be rather mysterious affairs....?

[CaptainAmerica]

Thanks bunches for that. Aimed the guns thru a periscope? That doesn't "sound" very practical, wonder where I can learn more about it? It surprised me nobody else touched the question, guess '26 turrets turn out to be rather mysterious affairs....?

google Douglas A26 gun turret

try this
http://books.google.com/books?id=nv89Ks ... &q&f=false

If I remember correctly, back in '89 we had the full upper turrent assembly but chose to only install the shell and fake barrels to preserve the interior cabin room.

[RickH]

The lower turret was deleted pretty early on. It was found to affect the CG as fuel was burned off on a mission. They also found that if an A-26 was up high that an adversary couldn't climb AND catch them. If they were flying a low level strike, no one could get underneath them. The lower turret was unnecessary and actually turned out to be a liability.

[walkerarmyairfield]

Question for A-26 folks. During the 1960's Rock Island Oil and Refining (Koch Industries today) converted A-26's in to the Onmark Coversion as I recall on the Hutchinson Kansas Airport. When the demand ceased for these conversions there were several A-26 aircraft ( think there were 6 or 7) setting at an isolated spot on the airport. Then someone came into Hutchinson and got several of them in flying condition and may have salvaged some of them. There were some photos in the local newspaper of the aircraft being prepared for the flight to California as I remember. Does anyone have any info on these aircraft and their final home. I do remember seeing this little group of A-26's setting on the north side of the Hutchinson airport under the trees.
Phillip

[CrewDawg]

We got a lot done over the holiday break, not as much as I had hoped for but we did get a lot done. We delivered all of the flight controls to Ezell Aviation on Dec 20th and in discussing the project with Nelson he asked for our help in hanging them due to his crew taking some time off over the holidays. So we put together a work party and went out there a week later on the 27th. Nelson Ezell's crew had the rudder hanging on it's hinges when we arrived. We managed to get the rudder trim installed and rigged as well as the RH elevator installed after pressure greasing all of the bearings.

While we had one crew working on the flight controls, we had others working on starting to look over the airplane for a preflight as well as pulling the lower cowling and draining the lower cylinders. We ran into a little snag with a bearing on the LH aileron, but Nelson's guys tracked down the bearing part number and got some headed our way.

We made a third trip out there the following Thursday to continue working on the flight controls and managed to get the LH elevator installed as well as both trim drums (no small task). We were also able to take care of a few other odds and ends. We could not hang the ailerons at that time because we were waiting on bearings. Nelson will hang them in the next day or two, once that's done and all flight controls are rigged, all we will lack is a good preflight and we'll be ready to fly her to her new home at the Vintage Flying Museum in Fort Worth.

It's taking longer than we would have liked, but we want to make sure everything is right before we make the flight home.

[CAPFlyer]

Hopin' you guys can make it home by the 16th for my CAP Squadron's visit. We're really looking forward to seeing all the planes and I can't wait to see that beautiful A-26 again myself after the work that Nelson's done.

[CrewDawg]

For those of you who have been following along with our adventures, you might remember that we are going to honoring Korean War Medal of Honor recipient Capt. John Walmsley. We knew that he was not flying his regular assinged A-26, "Hoodlehead" the night that he was killed, but we didn't know which airplane he was flying. I managed to contact his grandson who was able to fill in the missing information. I still don't know the tail number, but I do know that it was assigned to Al Gould and it was named "Night Mission (or Shot in th' Dark)" with some pretty funny artwork. See below;



Apparantly Al Gould also had a little bit if of a scare on his 38th mission in which we was flying glass nosed C model. They were hit right in the nose with a 37mm AA shell....but it was dud! The only damage was the nose plexi and the stained seat cushions!



I spoke to Nelson yesterday and the spar work and the flight controls are all done. She's just waiting on us to get out there, do a good preflight and tie up a few minor loose ends and then fly her to the Vintage Flying Museum at Meacham. I'll update the thread when we have more details.

[CrewDawg]

Made another trip out to Breckenridge last weekend. She's getting closer!



Running engines, sorry for the Roger Rabbit iPhone props!

[Alan Brooks]

Looking good Bill! Can't wait to her back here in Ft Worth. The polished blades were nice, but there is just something about a set of freshly overhauled (and painted) prop blades that just make any plane look better! Is there a projected day to fly back to Meacham?



Running engines, sorry for the Roger Rabbit iPhone props!


[/quote]

[CrewDawg]

We FINALLY GOT HER HOME!! She has now joined the nest of Warbirds at the Vintage Flying Museum! A huge thanks goes out to the Nelson Ezell and his team, if were not for them, this airplane would be a static display! Great job Ezell Aviation and the entire Invader Squadron!!


Photo Credit: Brian Goad







Now that she's home it will make it much easier to work on her, without having to drive 2 hours to Breckenridge every time! It's a fun time to be a maintenance officer!

[Alan Brooks]

YAHOO!

Now everyone can compare notes between the two '26's......... Similarities and differences........ Bill, Congrats to all involved!!!!!!! I saw another aircraft sponsor has signed on board. Great job to get her back in the air........... A quick question...... Is she going to the paint shop now or will she have to wait until later in the year?

As an aside, there are now two flying A-26 Invaders in the CAF fleet and a third is not too far off.... no really, it's in Guthrie, Ok..... I have heard (but not confirmed) that engine #2 is about to be hung on the airframe...... I'm waiting for piccies and news.......
alan

Last edited by Alan Brooks on Sun Jan 29, 2012 10:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Ztex]

Great news!

Glad the flight went well!

[RickH]

My buddy, Captain Al Maxwell strikes again !

[LadyO2Pilot]

Here's some more...as I said earlier today...gotta love those black and red airplanes A great big Thank You to Nelson Ezell and his crew. And very special "Good Job" to our Squadron people who worked so hard for this day and will continue to work to keep ths wonderful plane flying.

[steve dickey]

Saw her on takeoff and the high( ) flyby.
What was the cruise speed?