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Bomber, night fighter and ground attack aircraft, just some of the roles
the A-26 Invader played during WWII.
Then the period after the end of World War II saw a rapid growth in the
use of this exact same aircraft for yet more diverse duties in civilian use.
An aircraft that could be utilised to fit the growing need for agricultural and specialist
aircraft in the general aviation market.
As the A-26 Invader was ideal as a single pilot aircraft and with the abundance of cheap
spares, the Invader saw service yet again as a muti tasked airframe, that was fully adaptable to suite any use.
Below are just a few examples of how the Invader was utilised or "hired out" to undertake
these various operations.
For history and data on individual Invaders throughout the
site, I would like to credit the Warbirds Worldwide Directory by John Chapman, thank you John.
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Fog dispersal
Above, N2852G 44-35493 while at the Air Museum, Ontario, California
in March 1964
Sent in by Mike Shakocius
The spray equipment can clearly be seen on the trailing edge of the wing.
Serial #: 44-35493
Construction #: 28772
Civil
Registration:
N2852G
N576JB
Model(s):
A-26C
RB-26C
Name: None
Status:
Displayed
Last info: 2002
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History:
Dollar Lines Inc, San Francisco, CA.
- Registered
as N2852G.
Pacific Flight Service Inc, Angwin, CA, 1964-1969.
Arthur W. McDonnell, Lancaster, CA, Nov. 1970-1975.
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Operated with fog dispersal gear, 1969-1975.
Stencel Aero Engineering, Ashville, NC, 1977.
Sept 1981 - Impounded on the ramp at NAS New Orleans
11th Sep 1981 during a fuel stop. ( See clarification in this section, from Ted Schwarz and Carl
Jenkins )
Oklahoma Aircraft Sales, Yukon, OK, 1984.
John McGuire, El Paso,
TX, 1986-1987.
John MacGuire/ War Eagles Air Museum, Santa Teresa, NM, Feb. 17, 1987-2002.
- Registered as N576JB.
* Clarification:
I had a great mail from Carl Jenkins regarding N2852G.
Its people like Carl that make this site what it is, with personal insights
like this, thanks Carl
Carl wrote:
Hi, I'm Carl Jenkins. Just signed your guest book.
I've been enjoying your site for some time now. Noticed you have a new area "drug runners" and noticed the WEAM A-26C
44-35493 N2852G was missing. Thought I'd fill in another blank. Here are 5 pics of '493 I took on the impound
ramp at NAS New Orleans 11Sep1981 during a fuel stop. '493 kinda stood out amond the other airplanes . Asked
a DEA man if he would mind me crawling over the plane and the answer was, "...go ahead I think we've cleaned her out".
The story was '493 was blasting up the Texas-Louisiana coast at a very low altitude and a high rate of speed. A couple
fast movers out of Ellington caught up with her outside Grand Isle, LA. The bomb doors opened and the load of pot dropped
into the gulf. He was escorted to NAS N.O and landed without any further opposition. This took place the last
week of August 1981. I was fortunate enough to be passing through a week later and got these pictures.
Thanks again, keep the Invaders alive...
s/f
Carl |
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Mineral and Geographic survey operations
using a tail magnetometer boom
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The above shot was kindly donated by Manfred Meyer
The above two shots were sent in by Leif Hellström
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Serial #: 44-35622
Construction #: 28901
Civil
Registration:
N9658C
D-BELE
D-CELE
Model(s):
A-26B
B-26B
RB-26C
Name:
Status:
Last info:
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History:
USAF 1944
RB-26C 44-35622 first civil registered N9658C was then registered
as the D-BELE on 4/3/1962, after which it was registered on 27.6.1962 as the D-CELE and flew with Prakla Seismos
AG and was used for survey work in Africa.
Shortly after hiring the aircraft it crashed on 22/11/1963
at Cotonou Dahamey (now Benin) when the aircraft crashed due to the altimeter showing an incorrect height of 1000 meters
Understood to have been used/owned by the PRAKLA / BND German
Secret Service, but not confirmed. |
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Serial #: 43-35638
Construction #: 28917
Civil
Registration:
N7824B, D-BELI,
D-CELI
Model(s):
A-26B
B-26B
Name:
None
Status: Unknown
Last info:
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History:
To civil registry as N7824B, then was registered
as D-BELI on 06/03/1963 in the name of W. Rall and was re-registered as D-CELI on 03/27/1963 in the name of Photogrammetrie
München GmbH and was used for aerial reconnaissance and research on mineral resources in the Middle East.
Note regarding the above two aircraft: Both aircrafts (c/n
28901 and 28917) were at first registered D-BELE and D-BELI resp. The “B” was for aircrafts between 14 t and 20
t TOW. At 4.3.62 and 27.3.62 resp., both aircrafts regs. Were changed to D-CELE and D-CELI. “C”
stands for aircrafts between 5,7 t and 14 t, because these RB-26C’s without weapons, ammunition and armour fourteen
tons was enough, even when carrying full fuel load.
Generally: The owner
of D-CELE, D-CELI and D-CADU was Walter Rall and the aircrafts were operated for the survey companies PRAKLA Seismos AG, Hanover
and Photogrammetrie München GmbH. There were also contracts from time to time for the West German Luftwaffe Test Establishment
61, Manching and some secret and clandestine jobs for the German Federal Intelligence Service BND. |
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Above is N4000K in 1966
Above, London Gatwick in 1963
The above shot shows N4000K at Biggin Hill in May 63
The above shot owned by Barrie Colledge is of Manila based Aero
Service Corp Douglas A-26B Invader N4000K (c/n 28041) at Darwin in 1969 for a mapping contract of Irian Jaya.
Serial #: 44-34762
Construction #: 28041
Civil
Registration:
N67800, N4000
N4000K
Model(s):
A-26B
Wold Invader Executive
Name: None
Status: Abandoned
Last info: 1986
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History:
Delivered to Reconstruction Finance Corp as
44-34762
- Immediately put up for dispossal, 1945-1946.
Swiflite Aircraft Corp, New York, NY, 1954.
- Registered
as N4000.
- Converted by Wold Corp to B-26 Invader Executive.
Earl Slick/Slick Airways, San Antonio, TX, 1956.
-
Registered as N4000K.
Aero Service Corp, Philadelphia, PA, 1963-1966.
Aero Service Corp, Manila, Philippines, 1969-1972.
-
Damaged during wheels up landing, Manilla International Airport, July 4, 1972.
Withdrawn from use and abandoned, Dili,
Portuguese Timor, 1975-1986.
Note: Reportedly owned by industrialist Henry J Kaiser and operated as Pleione |
Note
NTSB Identification: OAK73DJY09
14 CFR Part
91 General Aviation
Event occurred Tuesday, July 04, 1972 in MANILA,ASIA, Philippines
Aircraft: DOUGLAS A-26B, registration:
N4000K
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FILE DATE LOCATION AIRCRAFT DATA INJURIES FLIGHT PILOT DATA
F S M/N PURPOSE
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6-0078 72/7/4 MANILA,RP,ASIA DOUGLAS A-26B CR- 0 0 2 NONCOMMERCIAL COMMERCIAL, AGE 49, 9903
TIME - 1815 N4000K PX- 0 0 5 PLEASURE/PERSONAL TRANSP TOTAL HOURS, 644 IN TYPE,
DAMAGE-SUBSTANTIAL OT- 0 0 0 INSTRUMENT RATED.
NAME OF AIRPORT - MANILA INTL
DEPARTURE POINT INTENDED DESTINATION LAST ENROUTE STOP
SINGAPORE MANILA,RP,ASIA KUCHING,MALASIA
TYPE OF ACCIDENT PHASE OF OPERATION
WHEELS-UP LANDING: LEVEL OFF/TOUCHDOWN
GROUND-WATER LOOP-SWERVE LANDING: ROLL
PROBABLE CAUSE(S)
AIRFRAME - LANDING GEAR: NORMAL RETRACTION/EXTENSION ASSEMBLY
AIRPORTS/AIRWAYS/FACILITIES - AIRPORT CONDITIONS: HIDDEN HAZARD
REMARKS- RT MN GR WOULD NOT RLS FM UP-LOCKED POSIT DUE TOMISG CLEVIS PIN AT RELS ROD ATTACH PT.
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f
I flew in this particular aircraft when I was a
small boy living in Jesselton, in the late sixties
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Serial #: 44-34768
Construction #: 28047
Civil
Registration:
N4852V
Model(s):
A-26B
Grand Central A-26
Name: None
Status:
Unknown
Last info: 1970
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History:
Delivered to Reconstruction Finance Corp for
disposal, 1945.
- Never delivered to USAF.
Superior Oil Co Inc, Lafayette, LA, 1950-1952.
- Registered as N67162.
H.L.
Brown/Brown Paper Mill Co, Monroe, LA, 1852-1954.
- Registered as N4852V.
- Converted to pressurized executive configuration
by Grand Central Aircraft, Glendale, CA, 1952-1953.
Jonnell Leasing Corp, Dallas, TX, 1963-1964.
Coastways Associates
Inc, Miami, FL, 1965-1970.
- Mineral survey operations, Liberia & Dakar, May 1965.
- Equipped with tail magnetometer
boom & underwing fuel tanks.
- Marked with title Minn Aerial Survey.
- Based Luton, July-Aug. 1966.
-- Marked
with titles Hunting Geology & JMC Aero Associates. |
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Additional history on this aircraft
Douglas A-26A TTD-001 28047 15 August 68 ex N4852V of Coastways Associates
Previous history: In
December 1964, A-26 N4852V (serial 28047) of Coastways Associates Inc. of Washington left the US for a trilateration and photo
mapping survey in Liberia on behalf of the Army Map Service; later this survey was extended to areas in Southeast Asia on
behalf of Gulf Oil Company.
In mid-April 1967, during the final phases of a survey operation,
A-26 N4852V encountered mechanical difficulties at Jesselton on Borneo to an extent that neither returning the aircraft to
the US for repairs nor completing repairs abroad was economically practical so that Coastways wanted to scrap the aircraft.
Between 17 and 20 April 67 and between 18 and 22 May 67, Air Asia sent an aircraft down to Jesselton to pick up the aircraft
and ferry it to Tainan, where it was stored until January 68. As part of the payment, Coastways decided to sell the aircraft
to Air Asia, asking permission to do so in their letter dated 23 July 68, sent to the Office of Munitions Control, US Department
of State. In that letter the status of the aircraft is described as follows: "The aircraft has been stripped of its electronic,
and most of the communications and navigation equipment, which was shipped back to the United States. The hull and engines
are currently in dead storage at the facility of Air Asia Company, Limited (AACL) at Tainan, Taiwan, and AACL has made us
an offer to purchase the remains for scrap and salvage." Air Asia bought the aircraft on 15 August 68.
Service history: current
at Tainan in 1970; white; to be seen in the Air America documentary, were
it seems to have been used for technical training at Tainan; believed to be the A-26A owned by Air America / Air Asia according
to the Inventory of 31 March 72, which is no longer mentioned on the Inventory.
Fate: probably
scrapped in 1972.
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f
The above shot was supplied by Steve Aubury and was taken at
Lima, Peru, back on 23rd November 1974
The above two shots sent in by Larry Green, were taken late 50's at Reading,
PA. when she was converted to civil standards by READING AVIATION SERVICE.
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Serial #: 43-22612
Construction #: 18759
Civil
Registration:
N3710G
Model(s):
A-26C
B-26C
Name: None
Status:
Destroyed
Last info: 1980
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History:
Reading Aviation Services, Reading, PA, 1961-1964.
-
Registered as N3710G.
Photo File Surveys Inc, Philadelphia, PA, 1966.
Aero Service Corp, Washington, DC, 1969-1972.
Duane
Egli, Fabens, TX, 1977-1980.
John Dozzo/Euroworld, Biggin Hill, UK, May 12, 1978-1980
- Operated by Don Bullock/Cavalier
Air Force, Biggin Hill.
- Crashed and destroyed during airshow, Biggin Hill, UK, Sep. 21, 1980.
-- Bullock killed.
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Mineral and Geographic survey operations
using a air towed magnetometer sling
Serial #: 44-35952
Construction #: 29231
Civil
Registration:
N67166
N1S
N4984N/U
Model(s):
A-26B
B-26B
Le Tourneau
B-26
Name: None
Status: Unknown
Last info:
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History:
Ex
Virginia Air National Guard
Charles H Babb, had special radar pod installed under port wing
to detect oil deposits and later fitted with magnetometer under belly.
Superior oil Co. |
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Camera ship
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Serial #: 44-35505
Construction #: 28784
Civil
Registration:
N4815E
Model(s):
A-26C
B-26C
Name: None
Status:
Stored
Last info: 2001
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History:
Rock Island Oil & Refining Co, Wichita,
KS, 1960
- Registered as N4815E.
- Planned conversion to Monarch 26 not completed.
Tallmantz Aviation Inc, Orange
County, CA, 1963-1976.
- Modified with lengthened nose for Cinerama Cameras.
Albert Redick, Chino, CA, 1977
On Mark
Aviation, Knoxville, TN, 1978.
Rose Diehl, Chino, CA.
Sold, reported flown on drug run to South america, impounded on
return to USA.
John MacGuire/War Eagles Air Museum, Santa Teresa, NM, 1990-2001. |
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Oil deposit location
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Serial #: 44-35952
Construction #: 29231
Civil
Registration:
N67166
N1S
N4984N/U
Model(s):
A-26B
B-26B
Le Tourneau
B-26
Name: None
Status: Unknown
Last info:
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History:
Ex
Virginia Air National Guard
Charles H Babb, had special radar pod installed under port wing
to detect oil deposits.
Superior oil Co. |
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Instrument calibration testing
Above, The Texas Instrument aircraft photographed at NATC Patuxent
River, MD
Photo kindly supplied by Joe Handelman
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Serial #: 44-35913
Construction #:
29192
Civil
Registration:
N3522C
N303WC
Model(s):
A-26C
On Mark Marketeer
Name:
None
Status: Displayed
Last info: 2001
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History:
Registered as N3522G
On Mark Engineering
Co, Van Nuys, CA.
- Registered as N303WC.
Western Contracting Corp, Lincoln, NE, 1963-1969.
Texas Instruments Inc,
Dallas, TX, 1971-1977.
Edward G. Counselman, Topeka, KS, Nov. 1978-1984.
USAFM, Linear Air Park, Dyess AFB, TX,
1984-2002.
- Displayed as 435913.
- Fitted with 8 gun nose
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N202R is shown here at Chicago / West Chicago - Dupage (DPA)
USA - Illinois, in April 1979
The above shot was kindly donated by Paul Cicci via his collection at Airliners.net
- Visit Pauls collection here |
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Serial #: 44-35601
Construction #: 28880
Civil
Registration:
N202R
Model(s):
A-26C
B-26C
On Mark Marketeer
Name: Miss Murphy
Status:
Airworthy
Last info: 2002
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History:
B.S. Hagill
- Registered as N202R.
Metropolitan
Paving Co, Oklahoma City, OK, 1963-1964.
- Nose gear collapsed on takeoff, Oklahoma, OK, Jan. 28, 1965.
Harry Mallory,
Oklahoma, OK, 1966.
Aero Industries Inc, Addison, TX, 1969-1970.
Texas Instruments Inc, Dallas, TX, 1972-1977.
Edward
Counselman, Topeka, KS, 1978.
Rodney G. Huskey, Grand Junction, CO, Nov. 1981-1995.
- Flew as USAF/44-35601/202/Miss
Murphy.
Lone Star Express, Grand Junction, CO, June 20, 1998-2002.
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Note
NTSB Identification: FTW65A0078
14 CFR Part 91 General
Aviation
Event occurred Thursday, January 28, 1965 in OKLAHOMA CTY, OK
Aircraft: DOUGLAS B-26, registration: N202R
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FILE DATE LOCATION AIRCRAFT DATA INJURIES FLIGHT PILOT DATA
F S M/N PURPOSE
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2-0039 65/1/28 OKLAHOMA CTY OKLA DOUGLAS B-26 CR- 0 0 2 NONCOMMERCIAL AIRLINE TRANSPORT, AGE
TIME - 2004 N202R PX- 0 0 0 CORP/EXEC 46, UNK/NR TOTAL HOURS,
DAMAGE-SUBSTANTIAL OT- 0 0 0 UNK/NR IN TYPE,
INSTRUMENT RATED.
NAME OF AIRPORT - WILL ROGERS FIELD
TYPE OF ACCIDENT PHASE OF OPERATION
GEAR RETRACTED TAKEOFF: ABORTED
PROBABLE CAUSE(S)
PILOT IN COMMAND - INADEQUATE PREFLIGHT PREPARATION AND/OR PLANNING
PERSONNEL - MAINTENANCE,SERVICING,INSPECTION: IMPROPERLY SERVICED AIRCRAFT (GROUND CREW)
FACTOR(S)
MISCELLANEOUS ACTS,CONDITIONS - MISSING
REMARKS- NOSE GEAR SCISSORS RETAINING BOLT NOT SECURED-SERVICEMAN DID NOT ASSURE PLT INFORMED OF CONDITION
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De Icing test platform
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Serial #: 44-35440
Construction #: 28719
Civil
Registration:
N6838D
CF-MSB
C-FMSB
Model(s):
A-26C
B-26B
Consort 26
Name: None
Status: Display
Last info: 2008
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History:
Delivered to French AF as 44-35345.
- BOC:
Feb. 16, 1954.
- Based in Indochina.
- Returned to USAF, Oct. 22, 1955.
- Open storage, Clark AFB, Philippines, 1955-1958.
Rock
Island Oil & Refining Co, Wichita, KS, 1966-1971.
- Registered as N6838D.
- Converted to Consort 26, Hutchinson,
KS.
Aero Union Corp, Chico, CA, 1971.
Conair Aviation Ltd, Abbotsford, BC, June 1971-1988.
- Registered as CF-MSB.
-
Flew as tanker #325.
- Registered as C-FMSB, 1977.
USAFM, Travis AFB, 1988-1999.
- Displayed as 435440/BG-O.
On loan from USAFM to the Cuban Society at Wings over Miami 2008,
Displayed as "931" as flown in the Bay of Pigs conflict
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Testbed for military tracking systems
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Serial #: 43-22652
Construction #:
18799
Civil Registration:
N8018E
C-GHCE
Model(s):
A-26C
B-26C
TB-26C
Name: None
Status: Display
Last info: 2002
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History:
Delivered to USAAf as 43-22652
- Delivered
to Davis Monthan AFB, AZ, for storage, Feb. 1958.
L.B. Smith Aircraft Corp, Miami, FL.
- Registtered as N8018E.
Aerojet
General Corp/Aerojet Electrosystems, Azusa, CA, 1961-1972.
- Used as testbed for military tracking systems.
Arthur W.
McDonnell, Mojave, CA, Sept. 7, 1973-1974.
Conair Aviation Ltd, Abbotsford, BC, June 1974-1988.
- Registered as C-GHCE.
-
Flew as tanker #30.
- Damaged from gear-up landing, Williams Lake, BC, Aug. 7, 1974.
- Repaired to airworthy.
USAFM,
Travis AFB, CA, July 18, 1988-1991.
- Displayed as B-26K/USAF/43-652/TA652. |
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Transportation of fish
Above, 1962 unknown location
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Serial #: 44-35905
Construction #: 29184
Civil
Registration:
N9400Z
Model(s):
A-26B
TB-26C
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History:
Served with the 111th's fighter Sq. as utility
flight
Served 4TTS George
AFB, CA
The aircraft was said to have transported fish in the late 1960's
Reported accident 12/01/54, Pilot James S Barrie
Note: last registered to Ray Jacobs, Mesquite, TX, when the Certificate of Registration had been revoked |
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River Sander
Dropping sand and crushed coral
on frozen rivers to aid
in ice breakup
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Serial #: 44-35323
Construction #:
28602
Civil
Registration:
N8026E
CF-CDD
Model(s):
A-26C
RB-26C
Name: Ginny
Sue
Status: Airworthy
Last info: 2002
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History:
Delivered to USAAF as A-26C/44-35323, March
1945.
- Delivered to ETO, April, 1945.
- Returned to U.S.A., July 1945.
- Assigned to 4255th Base Unit, Granada Field,
MS,
July 1945-Feb. 1946.
- Transferred to 4160th Base Unit, Hobbs Field, NM,
Feb. 1946-Sept.
1947.
- Transferred to 4185th Base Unit, Hill AFB, UT, Sept. 1947.
- Redesignated B-26C, July 1948.
- Transferred
to 67th TRW/12th TRS/Far East Air Force,
Tague Airbase, Korea, June 1951.
- Equipped with large nose mounted
camera and
redesignated RB-26C.
- Transferred to 183rd Transport Squadron/Air National Guard,
Hawkins, MI, 1956.
- Transferred to Davis-Monthan AFB for storage, Dec. 1957.
L.B. Smith Aircraft Corp, Miami, FL, July
1958
- Registered as N8026E.
Kreitzberg Aviation, Inc., Salem, OR, 1966.
Aeroflight Inc, Troutdale, OR, 1969
Aero
Union Corp, Chino, CA, 1969.
- Converted to air tanker configuration.
- Flown as tanker #55.
Conair Aviation Ltd.,
Abbotsford, BC, May 1970.
- Registered as CF-CDD.
Aero Union Corp, Chico, CA. Sep. 1970-1972
- Reregistered as N8026E.
-
Flew as tanker #C55.
William Dempsey, East Wenatchee, WA, 1977.
- Flew as tanker #55
Don A. Goodman, Missoula, MT,
1977
Lester Riley, Anchorage, AK, Circa 1978.
- Used as a "River Sander", dropping sand and crushed coral
on frozen rivers to aid in ice breakup.
- Also used as fire bomber.
Dr. Don Rogers, Anchorage, AK, Circa 1979.
The
Air Museum, Chino, CA, July 1980-1992
- Flown as "435323/Ginny Sue.
The Air Museum/Planes Of Fame, Valle, AZ,
2002.
- Static Display.
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Modified for atmospheric research
Edwin Berry of the UNR Desert Research Institute
wrote below:
Atmospheric research file 1
Atmospheric research file 2
Those wing pods were a lot more than flare holders. They originated
a whole new way to instrument an aircraft. All prior instrumented aircraft had the instrumentation specially built into the
plane. Instrumentation in those days was analog and took a lot of calibration and debugging. When the instrumentation is built
in then the technicians must do all their calibration and debugging inside the aircraft. It was slow and tedious and usually
did not work. I changed all that by having the technicians, headed by Paul Lage shown in the orange sweater alongside
Larry Rea, build everything in the lab rather than in the aircraft. There was the electronics package in racks that
could be quickly mounted on the floor inside the aircraft, the instrument sensors mounted on the two pods made from former
fuel tanks, and the cabling between them. The trick was to have the technicians build two exact copies of the cabling: one
for the lab and the other for the aircraft. When the two cabling units were fully calibrated, one of them was installed in
the aircraft running from the cabin to the instrument pods. The other remained in the lab to be used for calibrating and debugging
the instruments. It worked like a charm. When ready for a research flight, we simply moved the package and the pods from the
lab to the aircraft. We never had an instrument failure during any flight.
The weather radar is the first ever aircraft radar to paint a picture
referenced to the ground, and this was long before GPS made it easy. We would make a copy of a sectional map on clear plastic
and mount the plastic map over the storage scope shown here. We used a local Vortac as a point of reference. We could dial
the position of the Vortac on the scope and then position the map. Then our analog computers would add aircraft heading to
the radar angle with respect to the aircraft to get north orientation. Then our analog computers would add our position according
to the Vortac and put the north orientated radar signal on the scope. Viola, a ground position radar. Finally, we could keep
track of our position with respect to clouds. We could seed a cloud and fly back into the area we seeded. We could watch clouds
moving.
This was my own invention. I helped the Air Force use this concept
for their hurricane monitoring. They had been using rotation radar antennas on top of aircraft to look at the hurricanes,
thinking they needed to rotate the radar to get a picture. Add a piece of information: the larger an antenna the better the
radar image. The problem then is how do you put a larger antenna on an airplane and still fly the airplane. Simple. Replace
the large door on the side of a C-130 with a radar antenna mounted behind a new door made of radar dome material. Now, to
get a picture of a hurricane simply fly a 360 circle and use ground positioning of the signal, like we did on the B-26, to
paint a ground referenced high-resolution picture. It worked like a charm and produced the finest hurricane radar picture
ever at that time.
In March 1980 the plane went down between Lake Tahoe and Sacramento.
Ed no longer worked for DRI. All four crew died in the crash. Crash reports are unclear whether icing or mechanical breakdown
caused the crash.
Ed states: I am convinced the B-26 went down because of ice for
two reasons. First, we encountered icing on a few of our flights through Sierra Nevada winter storms. I know how the B-26
can be overwhelmed by ice. Its inflatable boots on the wing leading edges were not able to remove ice as fast as it can build
up. In both the B-26 and the C-45 we hit ice that caused loss of altitude. We could have crashed. It was dangerous work. Tom
Wells always had a plan that saved us for another day. He had a way of following the low terrain when we could not maintain
altitude until we were low enough so the ice would melt.
The second reason is the report of an eye witness to the
crash. He said the B-26 rolled over as it came out of the cloud. This is caused by having ice. Ice increased the stall speed
and ice can break off one side before it breaks off the other side. When ice is bring a plane down any attempt by the pilot
to pull back the elevators too much can cause the plane to stall. In icing it is very likely one wing will stall before the
other wing. This would cause the plane to roll, as reported by the witness.
In March 1980 the plane went down between Lake Tahoe and Sacramento.
Ed no longer worked for DRI. All four crew died in the crash. Crash reports are unclear whether icing or mechanical breakdown
caused the crash.
Ed states: I am convinced the B-26 went down because of ice for
two reasons. First, we encountered icing on a few of our flights through Sierra Nevada winter storms. I know how the B-26
can be overwhelmed by ice. Its inflatable boots on the wing leading edges were not able to remove ice as fast as it can build
up. In both the B-26 and the C-45 we hit ice that caused loss of altitude. We could have crashed. It was dangerous work. Tom
Wells always had a plan that saved us for another day. He had a way of following the low terrain when we could not maintain
altitude until we were low enough so the ice would melt.
The second reason is the report of an eye witness to the
crash. He said the B-26 rolled over as it came out of the cloud. This is caused by having ice. Ice increased the stall speed
and ice can break off one side before it breaks off the other side. When ice is bring a plane down any attempt by the pilot
to pull back the elevators too much can cause the plane to stall. In icing it is very likely one wing will stall before the
other wing. This would cause the plane to roll, as reported by the witness.
Serial #: 44-35640
Construction #: 28919
Civil
Registration:
N4204A
Model(s):
A-26C
B-26C
Smith Tempo II
Name:
None
Status: Destroyed
Last info: 1980
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History:
L. B. Smith Aircraft Corp., Miami, FL, 1960.
-
Registered as N4204A.
- Acquired from USAF disposal, Hanscom AFB, MA, Nov. 27, 1957.
- Rebuilt as prototype for Smith
Temp I & II.
- Test Flying, Miami, Oct. 1959-1962.
Pinellas Aircraft Inc., St. Petersburg, FL, Mar. 7, 1963.
Appliance
Buyers Credit Corp, St. Joseph, MI, Apr. 18, 1963-1966.
North Phoenix Aviation, Phoenix, AZ, Nov. 1966-1967.
A. Newton
Ball, Dillingham, AK, Jan. 1, 1967.
Robert L. Carleton, North Hollywood, CA, Feb. 23, 1967-1968.
University Of Nevada,
Reno, NV, June 12, 1968-1980.
- Stalled and Crashed due to airframe icing during weather research flight, Georgetown,
CA, Mar. 2, 1980.
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Note
NTSB Identification: LAX80FA060
14 CFR Part
91 General Aviation
Event occurred Sunday, March 02, 1980 in GEORGETOWN, CA
Aircraft: DOUGLAS B-26C, registration:
N4204A
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FILE DATE LOCATION AIRCRAFT DATA INJURIES FLIGHT PILOT DATA
F S M/N PURPOSE
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3-3755 80/3/2 NR.GEORGETOWN,CA DOUGLAS B-26C CR- 2 0 0 COMMERCIAL COMMERCIAL, AGE 56, 9220
TIME - 1115 N4204A PX- 2 0 0 OTHER TOTAL HOURS, 240 IN TYPE,
DAMAGE-DESTROYED OT- 0 0 0 INSTRUMENT RATED.
DEPARTURE POINT INTENDED DESTINATION
RENO,NV LOCAL
TYPE OF ACCIDENT PHASE OF OPERATION
STALL: SPIN IN FLIGHT: DESCENDING
PROBABLE CAUSE(S)
PILOT IN COMMAND - IMPROPER IN-FLIGHT DECISIONS OR PLANNING
MISCELLANEOUS ACTS,CONDITIONS - AIRFRAME ICE
FACTOR(S)
PERSONNEL - OPERATIONAL SUPERVISORY PERSONNEL: DEFICIENCY,COMPANY MAINTAINED EQPMT,SERVICES,REGULATION
WEATHER - ICING CONDITIONS-INCLUDES SLEET,FREEZING RAIN,ETC.
WEATHER BRIEFING - BRIEFING RECEIVED-METHOD UNKNOWN
WEATHER FORECAST - UNKNOWN/NOT REPORTED
SKY CONDITION CEILING AT ACCIDENT SITE
BROKEN 3700
VISIBILITY AT ACCIDENT SITE PRECIPITATION AT ACCIDENT SITE
5 OR OVER(UNLIMITED) SNOW
OBSTRUCTIONS TO VISION AT ACCIDENT SITE TEMPERATURE-F
BLOWING SNOW 38
WIND DIRECTION-DEGREES WIND VELOCITY-KNOTS
270 4
TYPE OF WEATHER CONDITIONS TYPE OF FLIGHT PLAN
IFR IFR
REMARKS- ATMOSPHERIC RESH.ACFT NR AFT CG LMT,NO LONGTDL STABLY STUDY.O/B INSTRN INDCD IN ICG CONDS 19.5MIN.
Journal of applied Meteorology report into crash
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