Bombardier Nose

This page shows photos of the bombardier's nose. This page does show both military and civilian versions, but they are sorted accordingly.

Military Noses

This photo show the crawlspace on the right side of the photo. Early model Invaders had a black canvas curtain separating the nose from the cockpit. There is also a vent (circular pipe) used to vent gun exhaust from the bombardier's nose just right of the flight control console. Based on the presence of this vent, it's location, and the curtain, this is most likely a block 15 plane. The curtain was not present on Block 20 planes and later, and the vent was moved to the other side on Block 20 planes. Block 10 block 15 planes didn't have a vent.

This photo shows the A-26C crawlspace between the cockpit and the nose. The view is from the bombardier's jump seat on the left side of the plane looking forward. The bag up front contains a parachute and emergency equipment for the bombardier. The round pipe near the center of the photo is a vent that is used to get the gun exhaust out of the bombardier's section. Interestingly, this nose does not have the Norden Bombsight installed.

This photo shows a close up of the Norden Bombsight that was used in the Invaders. It was the same bombsight that was used in B-17s and other allied bombers during WWII. This color photo comes from the 13th Bombardment Squadron during the Korean War.

This black and white shows the Norden bombsight as it was installed during WWII.

This photo shows a late-model bombardier cockpit with the crawlspace visible on the right. Although the early production C-models came with 2x .50 caliber machine guns in the nose, this armament was removed in later models due to ongoing adverse affects on the bombardier crew.

This photo shows the pilot seat of an A-26C model Invader during WWII.

This photo shows the navigator's jumpseat of the above plane during WWII.

A wonderfully detailed illustration of the A-26C cockpit interior, drawn by Martin J. Simpson.