Warbird Information Exchange

The real question is, which of these looks the best:

I got more if you are interrested...

In June of 1948, the Air Force decided that it no longer needed light attack bombers, and the Attack designation category was officially eliminated. The designation of the two Invader types was changed to B-26B and B-26C respectively. There was no danger of confusion with the Martin B-26 Marauder, since that aircraft was by that time out of service.

When American forces first began to get involved in combat in Vietnam--at first only as advisers--B-26Bs and B-26Cs went into action in the counterinsurgency role with the Farm Gate detachment. Unfortunately, by this time the B-26s were nearing the end of their service lives and suffered from frequent wing failures, forcing them out of service. Those few that remained active were provided with a strengthening wing strap along the bottom of the wing spars to prevent catastrophic wing failures and prolong service life. The success of these modifications led the USAF to order a remanufactured version of the Invader from the On Mark Engineering Company of Van Nuys, California that would be specifically adapted to the counterinsurgency role. The designation B-26K was applied and the name Counter Invader was chosen.

The B-26K Counter Invaders were delivered to the USAF between June 1964 and April 1965. They served with the 603rd Special Operations Squadron based at Lockbourne AFB and Hurlburt AFB in the operational training role, and with the 606th Air Commando Squadron (later renamed the 609th Special Operations Squadron) from Nakhon Phanom Air Base in Thailand. During the mid-1960s, Thailand did not permit the basing of bombers on its territory, and so the aircraft were reassigned the old attack designation of A-26A, thus bringing the Invader full-circle. The A-26As flew night interdiction missions over the Ho Chi Minh trail until they were phased out of service in November of 1969, finally bringing the era of Invader combat service with the USAF to a close.

The last US military Invader, a VB-26B (44-34160) operated by the National Guard Bureau, was retired in 1972 and was donated to the National Air and Space Museum.

34 posts= only 2459 more to pass that boring Diamond Lil stuff.