64-17641

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
Donate
Even a small donation of a couple of dollars goes a long way in helping us achieve our mission. If you appreciate the work we are doing, throw $5 our way to help us keep doing it. You don't need a PayPal account to donate. If you have questions, you check out our Donate FAQ.

See also: List of Invaders by Serial Number, Serial Numbers starting with 64

Was originally 44-35322.

Operational History

unknown

Participated in Operation Steel Tiger.

Served with 606th Special Operations Squadron.

Later served with 609th Special Operations Squadron.

29 Dec 1967 - shot down by AA while attacking convoy in Steel Tiger area near Ban Phoukachgi, 35 mi NW of Khe Sanh. 3 KIA

A 609th Crew Chief mistakenly says it was sent to South Vietnam in 1969, but the official record contradicts this.

Other reports mistakenly say this plane was sent to South Vietnam for use as a training frame and that It was blown up in Nha Trang in March of 1975 to prevent it falling into North Vietnamese hands, but this is also incorrect.

Accidents

Unknown

Crew

Cpt Carlos Rafael Kruz - Pilot (KIA)
Cpt William Potter - Navigator (KIA)
A1C Paul Foster] (KIA)

Disposition

Shot down by AA on 29 Dec 1967.

Images

Sources

Databases searched:

• AAIR -
• MACR -
• KORWALD -
• Baugher