Douglas A-26 and B-26 Invader

Ref: 4677

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{detailed description}The Douglas A-26 Invader saw its gestation before Pearl Harbor, but though the prototype XA-26 successfully flew in July 1942 and enjoyed a high priority, the aircraft wasn't available in bomb group strength until the war was nearly over. Even with production underway at both Long Beach, California, and Tulsa, Oklahoma, the deployment of the new attack bomber was hindered by frustrating delays and mistakes by both the US Army Air Corps and Douglas. Nonetheless, the A-26 enjoyed a modest role in both the European and Pacific theatres with the Army Air Forces before the war ended in August 1945.
After the war, the A-26 was redesignated as the B-26 and it became the primary light bomber in post-war service. Though it was only supposed to bridge the gap until the new jet bombers were available, the B-26 assumed a new combat role in June 1950 when the Korean War broke out. The Invader became part of the thin line that held the Communists at bay while the United Nations responded to the aggression. The B-26 went on to play a pivotal role in night interdiction during the war, a role it was neither designed nor equipped to perform, but for which it proved admirably suited.
A decade later, the USAF had forty Invaders remanufactured to become B-26Ks and they served on counter-insurgency misions in South-East Asia from bases in Thailand and South Vietnam until 1969. The CIA also fell in love with the reliable workhorse, and employed Invaders in operations from Indonesia to Cuba. The B-26 was flown, too, in the conflicts of revolution and counterrevolution fought on the fringes of the Cold War, and equipped many air forces, both legitimate and rebellious, around the world for over thirty years.
The B-26 also found a peacetime role. Surplus Invaders became fast company transports, electronic test-beds and air tankers for forest fire-fighting. Today, the B-26 lives on in museums and on airshow flightlines, where several now operate in as-new condition. They provide a memorial to a fine, if somewhat overlooked, aircraft. This book does the same, offering painstakingly researched history and a superb collection of photographs, many of which have never been published.
{Author / Publisher / Date}by Scott Thompson
published by Crowood 2002 1st edn. 191pp profusely illustrated, some colour, index, bibliography, appendices 23x29
{condition}near mint, d/j near fine.
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