64-17669

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 39,250 lbs Maximum
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 2,700 miles (ferry)
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 44-34606.

Operational History

2 Feb 1965 - Assumed accepted into USAF Inventory from OnMark Engineering Company at Van Nuys, CA.
3 Feb 1965 - Assigned to 1st Air Commando Wing at Hurlburt Field
11 Jun 1965 - Assigned to Mobile Air Material Area (MOAAR).
1 Jul 1965 - Assigned to 1st Air Commando Wing at Hurlburt Field
17 Dec 1965 - 1st Air Commando Wing moved from Hurlburt Field to England AFB
NOTE: There is no entry for acceptance of this plane into inventory on the official records. The 2 Feb is assumed based on the pattern of acceptance of other B-26Ks.

10 May 1966 - Designation changed from B-26K to A-26A while with the 1st Air Commando Wing at England AFB.
11 Jun 1966 - Sent to Nakhon Phanom Air Base. Participated in Operation Steel Tiger

22 Feb 1967 - Lost in action. This plane accompanied its damaged sister ship (64-17668) back from a strafing run. 668's starboard wing was on fire and the crew of 669 encouraged them to bail out. As soon as 668's crew bailed out the plane exploded, sending a large part of the wing to 669, destroying the plane and causing it to crash with a loss of both crew.

Accidents

Unknown

Crew

Cpt. Dwight Stanley Campbell - Pilot - KIA
Cpt. Robert Lee Sholl - Navigator - KIA

Disposition

Lost Feb 1967.

Images

669 in Sembach, Germany in Oct 1965 wearing an RB-26K glass nose conversion. The plane was not permanently assigned to that base according to the logs, so exactly what it was doing in Germany remains a mystery.

Crew members of the 609th Special Operations Squadron pose atop the plane at Nakhon Phanom AB. Note the truck kills painted on the Navigator side of the plane.

Sources

Databases searched:

• AAIR -
• MACR -
• KORWALD -
• Baugher