Douglas A-26 Invader Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Douglas A-26 Invader

Role	Attack aircraft and medium bomber
National origin	USA
Manufacturer	Douglas
First flight	1942
Introduction	1943
Status	Out of service
Primary user	USA
Produced	Out of production
Number built	2450 examples

The Douglas A-26 Invader is a twin-engined attack aircraft. It was used by the United States Army Air Force. It was also used in France and UK. The 'Invader' was used in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War by the United States. The French used it in the Algeria War. After 1948 its role in the US was changed from an attack aircraft to a bomber aircraft. The letter 'A' (for attack) in its name was changed to a 'B' (for bomber). It became the B-26 Invader. This caused some confusion because the Air Force already had the Martin B-26 Marauder, which was a different aircraft. Some A-26 Invaders were used during the 1950s by the United States Forest Service to fight forest fires. In this role the plane was used to put out wildfires from the air by dropping first borate, then later water and other retardants.

Images for kids

Douglas XA-26 AAC Ser. No. 41-19504 first flight, Mines Field, California, piloted by Benny Howard
Douglas XA-26B Invader AAF Ser. No. 41-19588, 5 May 1943, with a "strafer" nose, was adaptable to a combination of weapons, including a 75 mm (3 in) cannon.
An eight-gun nose A-26, 8th BS, 3rd BG Machinato Airfield, Okinawa 20 August 1945
Douglas A-26 Invader "Miss Murphy"
A B-26C Invader on a bombing run over Korea
A-26B-51-DL (AF Ser. No. 44-34331) over Korea, February 1951
B-26B-61-DL, AF Ser. No. 44-34517 "Monie" of the 37th BS, 17th BG flown by 1st Lt Robert Mikesh, Pusan AB, Korea 1952
A Farm Gate B-26B
An A-26A of the 609th SOS in 1969
A U.S. Douglas A-26C Invader painted in fake Cuban Air Force colors for the military invasion of Cuba undertaken by the CIA-sponsored paramilitary group Brigade 2506 in April 1961
French A-26C
XA-26A prototype of proposed night fighter in July 1943, painted black with radar in nose and underfuselage gunpack
A-26 cockpit interior
Overall gloss black A-26C-55-DT, AF Ser. No. 44-35982, showing the Bombardier nose and improved, clear-view "clamshell" canopy. An AN/APQ-13 radome is fitted in the forward bomb-bay, and "zero-length" launchers for 5 in HVAR rockets are under the outer wings.
JD-1 Ejection seat test
B-26K/A-26A Counter Invader (AF Ser. No. 64-17675)
A Conair 322 (A-26 water bomber conversion) at the BC Aviation Museum, Sidney, BC
A-26C-50-DT, AF Ser. No. 44-35918 marked as A-26B, AF Ser. No. 43-4287 Versatile Lady at the USAF History and Traditions Museum
B-26 Invader at Royal Saudi Air Force Museum in Riyadh
A-26B (44-34602), registered N167B at Duxford, UK July 2008
Reloading machine guns on an A-26B with a six-gun nose

Douglas A-26 Invader facts for kids

Images for kids

See also