This series is dedicated to the gallant service performed by the brave airmen of World War 2 who risked all so that we may enjoy our American way of life. The phrase “Big Brother, Little Brother” refers to the way the heavy bomber and fighter escort aircraft pilots called each other on the radio chatter.
On a personal note, my father “John” served as a flight engineer on a B-25 Mitchell out of Italy in 1944 and 1945. He made it back alive, as did my father-in-law “Danny” who served as a belly gunner on a B-24 Liberator out of Libya. “Danny” was one of the few airmen who flew in both Ploesti oil field raids to Romania (June 1942 and August 1943) and did so without so much as a scratch. He flew his 25 missions and returned to the US as a gunnery instructor (Lead, Dammit, Lead!).
Finding all the caches will display a GeoArt form of the Big Brother, Little Brother relationship on your map. The caches were not meant to be difficult to find. If you can’t find a cache, it’s probably missing. Send me a picture of the location by email, I’ll accept the find and replace the cache.
A-26 Invader
The combination of firepower and high speed made the Douglas A-26 a highly effective aircraft. Designed as a replacement for the A-20 Havoc, the A-26 met all of its specifications and then some. After World War II it was renamed the B-26 (not to be confused with the Martin B-26 Marauder, which had been retired from the Air Force inventory at the end of the war), and saw service in Korea and Vietnam.
The A-26 was an unusual design for an attack bomber of the early 1940s period, as it was designed as a single-pilot aircraft (sharing this characteristic with the RAF's de Havilland Mosquito, among others).
The Douglas company began delivering the production model A-26B in August 1943 with the new bomber first seeing action with the Fifth Air Force in the Southwest Pacific theater on 23 June 1944, when they bombed Japanese-held islands near Manokwari. The pilots in the 3rd Bomb Group's 13th Squadron, "The Grim Reapers", who received the first four A-26s for evaluation, found the view from the cockpit to be poor for low level attack. General George Kenney, commander of the Far East Air Forces stated that, "We do not want the A-26 under any circumstances as a replacement for anything."
In contrast to the Pacific-based units, the A-26 was well received by pilots and crew alike in Europe and the Mediteraenean, and by 1945, the 9th AF had flown 11,567 missions, dropping 18,054 tons of bombs, recording seven confirmed kills while losing 67 aircraft.
Douglas A-26B Invader Technicals
General characteristics-
Crew: 3
Length: 50 ft 0 in
Wingspan: 70 ft 0 in
Height: 18 ft 3 in
Wing area: 540 ft²
Empty weight: 22,850 lb
Loaded weight: 27,600 lb
Max. takeoff weight: 35,000 lb
Powerplant: 2 × Pratt & Whitney R-2800-27 "Double Wasp" radials, 2,000 hp
Performance-
Maximum speed: 355 mph
Range: 1,400 m
Service ceiling: 22,000 ft
Rate of climb: 1,250
Armament-
Guns:
Up to 8 0.50 in M2 Browning machine guns in the nose (1,600 rpg)
8 0.50 in M2 machine guns paired in four optional underwing pods
2 0.50 in M2 machine guns in remote-controlled dorsal turret
2 0.50 in M2 machine guns in remote-controlled ventral turret
Bombs: 6,000 lb - 4,000 lb in the bomb bay plus 2,000 lb carried externally on the wings
Survivors
Airworthy-
A-26B, s/n 41-39230 “Lady Liberty” owned by the Commemorative Air Force in Oklahoma City, OK.
A-26B, s/n 41-39427 owned by the Commemorative Air force in Meacham Field, TX.
A-26B, s/n 44-34104 owned by the Military Aircraft Restoration Corp in Geneseo, NY.
A-26B, s/n 44-34313 “Miss Michelle” owned by the Commemorative Air Force in El Cajon, CA.
A-26B, s/n 44-34520 “Lu Lu” owned by the Lauridsen Collection in Glendale, AZ.
A-26B, s/n 44-34538 “Feeding Frenzy” owned by the Lyon Air Museum in Santa Ana, CA.
A-26B, s/n 44-34722 owned by the Tillamook Air Museum in Tillamook, OR.
A-26B, s/n 44-34749 “Puss & Boots” owned by the Abrams Airborne Manufacturing Inc in Avra Valley, AZ.
A-26B, s/n 44-34766 owned by Thermco Aviation in Thermal, CA.
A-26C, s/n 44-35323 “Ahaulin”owned by Planes of Fame in Valle, AZ.
A-26C, s/n 44-35371 owned by Southern Cross Aviation.
A-26C, s/n 44-35439 “Margie” owned by Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville, OR.
A-26C, s/n 44-35444 owned by Classic Aircraft Aviation Museum in Hillsboro, OR
A-26C, s/n 44-35456 owned by Wade Eagleton in Shafter, CA.
A-26C, s/n 44-35562 “Sexy Sue” owned by Alien Invaders Inc in Medina, WA.
A-26C, s/n 44-35601 “Miss Murphy” owned by the Commemorative Air force in Mesa, CA.
A-26C, s/n 44-35708 owned by the Classic Aircraft Aviation Museum in Hillsboro, OR.
A-26C, s/n 44-35710 “Hard To Get” owned by the Cavanaugh Flight Museum in Addison, TX.
A-26C, s/n 44-35721 “Invader” owned by the Palm Springs Air Museum in Palm Springs, CA.
A-26C s/n 44-35788 owned by the A-26 Company in Van Nuys, CA.
A-26C, s/n 44-35911 “Spirit of NC” owned by George W Lancaster in Wilmington NC.
On display-
A-26B, s/n 41-39303 “City Of Santa Rosa” at the Commemorative Air Force in Santa Rosa, CA.
A-26B, s/n 41-39401 at Fantasy of Flight in Polk City, FL.
A-26B, s/n 41-39472 “Lil Sal” at the Castle Air Museum in Atwater, CA.
A-26B, s/n 41-39516 at the Wings Of Eagles Discovery Center in Horseheads, NY.
A-26B, s/n 43-22258 at the Grand Forks Air force Base in Grand Forks, ND.
A-26B, s/n 43-22444 at the Vance Air force Base in Enid, OK.
A-26B, s/n 43-22494 at the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson, AZ..
A-26C, s/n 43-22499 “Reida Rae” at the New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks, CT.
A-26C, s/n 43-22652 at the Jimmy Doolittle Air & Space Museum in Fairfield, CA.
A-26B, s/n 44-34423 at the Armed forces And Aerospace Museum in Spokane Valley, WA.
A-26B, s/n 44-34559 at the Mississippi Air National Guard in Jackson, MS.
A-26B, s/n 44-34665 at the Strategic Air command Museum in Ashland, NE.
A-26B, s/n 44-34746 “Sonny” at VFW Post 382 in El Reno, OK.
A-26C, s/n 44-35204 at Laughlin AFB in Del Rio, TX.
A-26C, s/n 44-35224 “Midnight Endeavor” at the March Field Air Museum in Riverside, CA.
A-26C, s/n 44-35440 at Wings Over Miami in Miami, FL.
A-26C, s/n 44-35493 at the War Eagles Air Museum in Santa Teresa, TX.
A-26C, s/n 44-35596 at Hickam Air Force Base in HI.
A-26C, s/n 44-35617 “Grim Reaper” at Hill Aerospace Museum in Ogden, UT.
A-26C, s/n 44-35627 at the Dodge City Airport in Dodge City, KS.
A-26C, s/n 44-35724 “Monie” at the Southern Museum of Flight in Birmingham, AL.
A-26C, s/n 44-35732 at the Museum of Aviation in Warner Robins, GA.
A-26C, s/n 44-35733 “Dream Girl” at the National Museum of the USAF in Dayton, OH.
A-26C, s/n 44-35753 “Rude Invader” at the Carolinas Aviation Museum in Charlotte, NC.
A-26C, s/n 44-35892 at the Pueblo Weisbrod aircraft Museum in Pueblo, CO.
A-26C, s/n 44-35913 at Dyess AFB in Abilene, TX.
A-26C, s/n 44-35918 “Versatile Lady” at the USAF History and Traditions Museum in San Antonio, TX.
A-26C, s/n 44-35937 at the Jackson Barracks Military Museum in New Orleans, LA.
A-26C, s/n 44-35986 “Stormy Weather” at the Selfridge Military Air Museum in Detroit, MI.
B-26K, s/n 64-17640 at the South Dakota Air and space Museum in Rapid city, SD.
B-26K, s/n 64-17653 at the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson, AZ.
B-26K, s/n 64-17666 at the Air Commando Park in Hurlburt, FL
B-26K, s/n 64-17676 at the National Museum of the USAF in Dayton, OH.
Under restoration-
A-26B, s/n 41-39161 by The Fighter Factory in Suffolk, VA.
A-26B, s/n 41-39215 by the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, FL.
A-26B, s/n 44-34508 by Jack Brazier in Santa Rosa, CA.
A-26B, s/n 44-34610 by the National Air & Space Museum in Chantilly, VA.
A-26C, s/n 44-35523 by the Air Mobility Command Museum in dover, DE.
A-26C, s/n 44-35643 “Lil Twister” by the Commemorative Air Force in Oklahoma City, OK.
A-26C, s/n 44-35696 “My Mary Lou” by the Aviation Museum of Texas in Uvalde, TX.
A-26C, s/n 44-35948 by the Champaign Aviation Museum in Urbana, OH.
In storage-
A-26B, s/n 41-39221 by the South Mountain High School in Phoenix, AZ.
A-26B, s/n 41-39359 by the Marine Aviation Museum in Wilmington, DE.
A-26B, s/n 44-34165 by the Air force Flight Test Center Museum in Edwards AFB, CA.
A-26C, s/n 44-35505 by War Eagles Air Museum in Santa Teresa, NM.