Douglas A-26 “Invader”

MANUFACTURER: Douglas Aircraft Company

MODEL: A-26B Invader (re-designated as B-26B in 1947)

ARMY AIR CORPS SERIAL NUMBER: 44-34538

DELIVERY DATE: 1945

PROTOTYPE FIRST FLIGHT: July 10, 1942

CREW: Three

POWER: Two 2,000 Horsepower Pratt & Whitney R-2800
“Double Wasp” 18-cylinder radial piston engines

WEIGHTS: Basic Empty Weight – 22,850 pounds
Gross Weight – 35,000 pounds

FUEL CAPACITY: 800 gallons

RANGE: 1,400 miles

WING SPAN: 70 feet

LENGTH: 50 feet

HEIGHT: 18 feet, 3 inches

SERVICE CEILING: 22,100 feet

TYPICAL ARMAMENT: Up to fourteen .50 caliber machine guns, and fourteen 5-inch rockets

TYPICAL BOMB LOAD: Internal – 4,000 pounds
External – 2,000 pounds

NUMBER BUILT: 2,448 (all models)

SPEEDS: Maximum – 355 miles per hour
Cruising – 250 miles per hour

The Invader fought in more wars than any other aircraft type of its era. Americans flew the attack bomber in World War II, Korea and Vietnam, while other air forces fought with it in Indo-China, Algeria, Biafra, Cuba, The Congo, and in at least a dozen other conflicts.

The Douglas A-26B Invader, “Feeding Frenzy,” was built at the end of World War II, spent time flying with the French in Indo-China in the 1950s and was later operated by Hughes Tool Company. It is reported that Howard Hughes himself flew this very airplane, as he did with most of the planes his companies owned. Today, “Feeding Frenzy” wears Korean War colors.