Douglas A-26 and B-26 Invader

Overview

This book is a great addition to any Invader enthusiast's Library. This book is thorough and thoughtful and covers the Invader from its inception up through the last American use in Vietnam. It briefly covers some uses by foreign powers, civil aviation, and test bed projects. It does not dive as deeply into any one area as some other books, but instead covers the basics and highlights of most areas of use. As with any book, there are some errors which may hinder researchers, I have outlined those below.

Versions & Editions

I am only aware of one edition of this book, published in 2002 by Crowood Press. It comes in hardback and is 200 pages with some full color photos. The cover usually appears online with a purple top section, as shown below, but the physical book has a blue top.

Corrections

I will be going through the book in order by page. Many of the corrections are with the photo captions, and I will try to point these out specifically.

For ease of use, I have used the same section headers that the book uses.

Development & Production

Pg 29 - Bottom Photo - "Production got under way at Long Beach in the fall of 1943, though only seven aircraft were actually delivered that year. By mid-1944, however, the assembly line output had increased significantly. This view in August 1944 shows early A-26Bs being built on the line alongside Douglas-built B-17s. The early-style canopy hatch was not replaced on the Long Beach line until October 1944."

This is more of a clarification than an outright error. The Oct 1944 date was when the Gen 2 flip-up style replaced the Gen-1 flip up style. Many people don't realize that there were actually 3 variants of the canopy, so some readers assume that this date is the introduction of the Clamshell canopy, which is incorrect.