64-17677
| B-26K-1 Invader | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Builders: Douglas Aircraft Company On Mark Engineering | |||
| Operators: United States Air Force | |||
| Number Built: 40 | |||
| First Built: Jan 1963 (YB-26K) First test flight | |||
| GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS | |||
| Type: Light Attack Bomber | |||
| Weight: 25,130 lbs empty 37,000 lbs loaded | |||
| Length: 51' 7 3/16" (inc. guns) | |||
| Height: 19' 0" | |||
| Wingspan: 71'6" (including wingtip tanks) | |||
| Wing Area: 540 Sq. Feet (50.17 m²) | |||
| Speed: 169 mph (cruising) | |||
| Max Speed: 323 mph | |||
| Ceiling: 28,600' | |||
| Powerplant: Pratt & Whitney R-2800-103W | |||
| Horsepower: 2,500 | |||
| Fuel Capacity: 1,600 US Gallons | |||
| Range: 700 miles w/3518 lbs payload 1,480 miles empty | |||
| Crew: 2 | |||
| Passengers: 1 | |||
| ARMAMENT | |||
| Nose Guns: 8x .50 caliber guns | |||
| Dorsal Turret: None | |||
| Ventral Turret: None | |||
| Payload: 8,000 lbs on wings 4,000 lbs internal | |||
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See also: List of Invaders by Serial Number, Serial Numbers starting with 64
Converted from 44-34108 or 44-35205. (The other plane was 64-17678).
Was named Batplane.
Operational History
14 Apr 1965 - Accepted into USAF Inventory from OnMark Engineering Company in Van Nuys, CA [1]
15 Apr 1965 - Assigned to 1st Air Commando Wing at Hurlburt Field[1]
17 Dec 1965 - 1st Air Commando Wing moved from Hurlburt Field to England AFB[1]
NOTE: There is no official record of acceptance in the records. The acceptance date is assumed based on the pattern of other planes of this type being accepted the day before they were assigned.
10 May 1966 - Designation changed from B-26K to A-26A while assigned to 1st Air Commando Wing at England AFB. [2]
30 Jun 1966 - Sent to Sacramento Air Material Area (SMAAR) at McLellan AFB[2]
31 May 1967 - Under maintenance at Sacramento Air Material Area (SMAAR) at McLellan AFB.[3]
3 Aug 1967 - Assigned to 634th Combat Support Group at Nakhon Phanom Air Base. [3]
22 Aug 1967 - Assigned to 56th Air Commando Wing at Nakhon Phanom Air Bse. [3]
25 Dec 1967 - Maintenance at Nakhon Phanom Air Base. [3]
28 Dec 1967 - Returned to combat capability with 56th Air Commando Wing and Nakhon Phanom Air Base. [3]
2 Aug 1968 - 56th Air Commando Wing renamed to 56th Special Operations Wing. [4]
1 Sep 1968 - Maintenance with 56th Special Operations Wing. [4]
16 Sep 1968 - Assigned to SMAAR at Nakhon Phanom. [4]
7 Mar 1969 - Maintenance 56th Special Operations Wing at Nakhon Phanom Air Base. [5]
5 Apr 1969 - Returned to combat capability with 56th Special Operations Wing at Nakhon Phanom Air Base. [5]
8 Apr 1969 - Maintenance with 56th Special Operations Wing at Nakhon Phanom Air Base. [5]
10 Nov 1969 - Left Nakhon Phanom Air Base. [5]
14 Nov 1969 - Assigned to 6200th Air Base Wing at Clark AFB and put into open storage. [5]
Sent to South Vietnam Air Force for use as a training frame.
Mar 1975 - Blown up at Nha Trang to keep it from falling into North Vietnamese hands.
Accidents
Sep 1968 - Al Shortt, in reference to the photos at the bottom of this page told the crew of "Special Kay" (64-17679): "The crash photos are well known to me since I was the pilot on that Sept. '68 mission. No one got injured! It was rainy, wet and slippery when we landed and when I went into reverse power, #2 engine quit, causing the left engine to make us go off the left side of the runway. I had it headed back toward the runway when the dreaded DITCH got in the way. We shut everything off to prevent any fire and stepped out. (Not very far to the ground!) End of story. The plane was fixed and put back into service.”
Crew
Al "Batman" Shortt - Pilot
Larry "Robin" Counts - Navigator
Disposition
Destroyed (Scuttled)
Images
677 in Nov 1965.
677 is the 2nd plane in the lineup at NKP in Vietnam.
Navigator Larry "Robin" Counts beside "The Batplane".
677 at Nha Trang.
The original captions that came with this set of photos below stated that the identity of the plane was not known. Originally we had assumed that this was 64-17673, which also crashed when one of the engines quit, but we have since learned that was an error and our accident reports were missing the crash of '677 in Sep 1968. Pilot Al Shortt provided this statement to an interview with the crew who operate "Special Kay" (64-17679), and they relayed it to me. The photos below show Al Shortt's plane, which was subsequently repaired and put back into service.
Sources
Databases searched:
- AAIR -
- MACR -
- Baugher - http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1964.html
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Reel AVH-4, Pg. 1960 USAFHRA
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Reel AVH-6, Pg 1949, USAFHRA
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 "Aerospace Vehicle Report, 1967" Reel AVH-8, Pg 2754 USAFHRA
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Aerospace Vehicle Report, 1968" Reel AVH-10, Pg 2373 USAFHRA
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 "Aerospace Vehicle Report, 1969" Reel AVH-13, Pg 2206 USAFHRA