Researching Invaders: Difference between revisions

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With these serial number lists as a starting point, we then turn to the inventory records for these planes. The military kept records of when different planes were accepted into service, transferred to another unit, or stricken from the inventory.
With these serial number lists as a starting point, we then turn to the inventory records for these planes. The military kept records of when different planes were accepted into service, transferred to another unit, or stricken from the inventory. For cases where the plane was sold to a civilian entity the Federal Aviation Administration maintains records of ownership. Some of these planes were given to other nations on a permanent or temporary basis. Finding Inventory records for those planes is slightly more problematic.
 
 
Neither the Air Force inventory records, nor the FAA registry information tell the complete picture. For example, any accidents that these planes have been in are not reported on these records. Luckily, there are accident reports maintained by both the military and the FAA that can shed more light on those. That is one area where we see a lot of errors. Some places, like Joe Baugher's site, incorrectly list many invaders as "Class 26'd" (written off) due to damage from an accident. Much up this seems to stem from a damage code on the accident report. To be fair to Mr. Baugher, the code isn't well thought out. We have seen cases where there is a damage code of "5", which means "destroyed" by this scale, but then the plane is involved in another accident later. As with the inventory records, finding accident reports of foreign Invaders is difficult.

Revision as of 13:40, 24 August 2018

The process of researching Invaders and their crews is rarely straightforward. On this page we will explain some of the methods that we use to discover clues about these planes and the people who flew them.


The foundational starting point of our work revolves around a pair of documents. The first of these documents is the US Air Force Serial Number list. This list enumerates all of the Invaders that the Air Force accepted into their inventory; 2,453. The second document is the production list from Douglas. This list notates all of the Invaders that Douglas manufactured; 2,503. Right off the bat it seems like there is a discrepancy, however, both of these numbers are accurate. Douglas produced more Invaders than the Air Force accepted. Approximately 50 Invaders were built for the British Royal Air Force, but they were never delivered due to the war in Europe coming to a close.


With these serial number lists as a starting point, we then turn to the inventory records for these planes. The military kept records of when different planes were accepted into service, transferred to another unit, or stricken from the inventory. For cases where the plane was sold to a civilian entity the Federal Aviation Administration maintains records of ownership. Some of these planes were given to other nations on a permanent or temporary basis. Finding Inventory records for those planes is slightly more problematic.


Neither the Air Force inventory records, nor the FAA registry information tell the complete picture. For example, any accidents that these planes have been in are not reported on these records. Luckily, there are accident reports maintained by both the military and the FAA that can shed more light on those. That is one area where we see a lot of errors. Some places, like Joe Baugher's site, incorrectly list many invaders as "Class 26'd" (written off) due to damage from an accident. Much up this seems to stem from a damage code on the accident report. To be fair to Mr. Baugher, the code isn't well thought out. We have seen cases where there is a damage code of "5", which means "destroyed" by this scale, but then the plane is involved in another accident later. As with the inventory records, finding accident reports of foreign Invaders is difficult.