A-26 N26WB

[67N20]

Anybody know who owns the silver and blue A-26 at Houston Hobby on the south ramp as you land on 12R? We were there yesterday afternoon and caught sight of it on short final...

Lynn......probably Rick Sharpe's "Million-airess"

Million-airess is currently on exhibit at LSFM in Galveston. Was probably his other A-26, Fire Eater.

[LadyO2Pilot]

Ah ha....I thought Fire Eaters was down at LSFM....I stand corrected......they are both silver and blue

[A26 Special K]

Ah ha....I thought Fire Eaters was down at LSFM....I stand corrected......they are both silver and blue

Still having trouble with airplane colors, are ya Broomrider??

[LadyO2Pilot]

Ah ha....I thought Fire Eaters was down at LSFM....I stand corrected......they are both silver and blue

Still having trouble with airplane colors, are ya Broomrider??

Not at all........just locations

[A26 Special K]

Broomrider, at the risk of being turned into a toad, I must point out that they are NOT both silver and blue. Close, but not quite. Rivet Rivet..... gotta go catch some flies. Later....

[SpaceRanger1]

Anybody know who owns the silver and blue A-26 at Houston Hobby on the south ramp as you land on 12R? We were there yesterday afternoon and caught sight of it on short final...

Lynn......probably Rick Sharpe's "Million-airess"

Million-airess is currently on exhibit at LSFM in Galveston. Was probably his other A-26, Fire Eater.

According to my friend, the airplane in question is "Fire Eaters" (note plural), N4818E (ex-USAAF 44-35371) owned by the Vietnam War Flying Museum and used in the film "Always."

[whistlingdeath77]

Thought fire eater was sitting somewhere for sale and haven't flown? Could be old info

[Ryan Harris]

Fire Eaters is definitely alive and well and currently at Hobby. She is dual control and used for training quite often. Million-Airess is down at Lone Star as a couple have mentioned. She should be back up and active soon.

[whistlingdeath77]

Well that's great news! That's for the update

[Lynn Allen]

Thanks for the intel...

[Lon Moer]

From another website;

This Douglas TB-26C was bit of an odd duck being a dual control B-26 with a clear nose. The military s/n 44-35371 lists it as a standard clear nosed B-26C. At some point it was converted to a dual control aircraft. That change would have blocked any access to the nose compartment from the cockpit. The only access would have been from the ground through the hatch in the bottom of the nose. In addition to the installation of the retardant tanks and doors, the outboard leading edges of the wings have been extended and drooped to improve slow speed handling.
The aircraft is currently owned by the Marine Aviation Museum in Houston, TX.

[whistlingdeath77]

I thought they prohibited anyone from sitting in the nose during take offs and landings?

[T J Johansen]

I seem to remember being in the nose of an A-26 from start to finish some years back. No one said anything about that being wrong.

T J

[A26 Special K]

Sitting in the nose is risky because if the nose gear collapses, the nose structure is not strong enough to resist bending and crushing upward. Anybody who sits up there will suffer the same. During military operations, the bombardier sat beside the pilot as navigator until time to move thru the tunnel to the nose for level flight use of the bombsight. In the TB-26 or modified dual yoke models, the right side control yoke can easily be removed by pulling a pin and lifting the yoke out. It is not really a hindrance to getting into the tunnel if needed. We do it regularly in Special Kay to get behind the instrument panel for work. JR

[whistlingdeath77]

I believe during wartime conditions the a-26 had the problem of a gear collapsing with the conditions of uneven terrain, thus mortally wounding anybody in the nose as previously stated. Maybe with today's airports and newer pavement, the chances of the gear collapsing are much less