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American Combat Planes of the 20th Century is an incredible reference for anyone who is interested in any American Combat Plane History. There are 758 pages and 1700 b/w photos in this substantial labor of love by Ray Wagner, who has been passionately researching and writing about aircraft for over 50 years. Whether you are already familiar with his past works, or just discovering this accomplished author for the first time... This is the book that you've been waiting for!

If you'd like to see the book's Table of Contents ... Click here. You can also browse the entire Index Section to get an idea of the extensive amount of information that is covered within this book.

Search our site for other combat planes. A- 1 Eaton A- 4 Skyhawk A- 6 & A- 7 Air Weapons AV- 8 to A- 10 A- 20 Havoc A- 22 Martin Maryland A- 23 Martin Baltimore A- 24 Douglas A- 26 Douglas Invader Attack Planes B- 2A, F-111, F-117 Stealth B- 17 Flying Fortress B- 24 Liberator B- 25 North American B- 26 Marauder B- 29 Superfortress B- 32 Dominator B- 35 Flying Wing B- 36 B- 47 Stratojet B- 50 Boeing B- 52 Stratofortress B- 57 Canberra B- 58 Hustler Biplanes Biplanes, Army Pursuits Bombers, B- 70 to Stealth Bombers, First Big Curtiss Falcon CO- 1 DH- 4 De Havilland F3D- Douglas Skyknight F3H- McDonnell Demon F4D- 1 Skyray F4F Grumman Wildcats F- 4U Corsair F6F Grumman F7F Grumman F7U Vought F9F G. Cougar F9F G. Panther F- 16 Fighting Falcon F- 84 F- 86 Sabre F- 89 to F-94 F- 100 to F-108 First Fighters Flying Boats GAX Iraq to Afghanistan Martin Bombers Missile Era Fighters Navy Fighers Navy Flying Boats O- 2 Douglas P- 35 Seversky P- 36 to 42 Curtiss P- 38 Lightning P- 39 Airacobra P- 40 Line P- 47 Thunderbolt P- 51 Mustang Fighter P- 61 Black Widow P- 63 Kingcobra P- 79 to P-81 P- 82 Twin Mustang SB2C Helldiver TBF-TBM Avenger Thomas-Morse Torpedo Planes V- 11 Vultee XB -28 XP -48 / 77

A-26 Douglas Invader

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A-26 Douglas Invader
Even as the first A-20A was tested, the Air Force on November 5, 1940, instigated a Douglas study of a better and larger light bomber with twice the A-20’s bomb load and defensive firepower. The resulting design submitted on January 28, 1941, by E. H. Heinemann became the last propeller-driven twin-engine bomber in production for the Air Force, the A-26 Invader. DOUGLAS XA-26

A wider body permitted side-by-side pilot seating and 4,000 pounds of bombs. Instead of hand-held guns, two 50-caliber guns in a top turret and two in a lower rear turret were aimed through periscopic sights and remote controls in the rear cockpit. Two 2,000-hp R-2800-27 Wasps and wings with a low-drag laminar-flow airfoil and double-slotted flaps, along with tricycle landing gear, were provided.

Contracts were placed June 2, 1941, for prototypes and on October 31 for the first 500 production aircraft. But it would be three years before the A-26 entered combat, unlike the rapid flow of Havocs from the Douglas plants in 1941-1944. The first XA-26 flew July 10, 1942, at El Segundo with three crewmen, a transparent bombardier nose, and six guns. Two guns were fixed on right side of the nose, and four in the turrets.

Night fighter equipment was installed on the second prototype, the two-seat XA-26A with AGL-1 radar in the nose, four 20-mm fixed guns in a belly tray, and a top turret with four .50-caliber guns. It was not flown until January 27, 1943, but this version was made redundant by the success of Northrop’s P-61.

DOUGLAS XA-26A

The third prototype was the XA-26B, completed by May 1943, which had a 75-mm T-7 cannon on the right side and two .50-caliber guns on the left side of a short solid nose and four .50-caliber guns paired in turrets. This gun nose had been chosen for the production model, but considerable gun variations were possible. A tank destroyer version with four 37-mm guns was proposed in January 1943, but was discarded by February 22. DOUGLAS XA-26B

The large propeller spinners on the prototypes were deleted from the production A-26Bs built at Long Beach. The first of five A-26B-l-DL Invaders appeared on September 10, 1943, and 15 A-26B-5-DLs completed by March 1944 had minor changes and eliminated the camouflage formerly customary on bombers. These models had the 75-mm gun in the nose with two .50-caliber guns on the left side, but a new all-purpose nose was installed on later aircraft, beginning with the A-26B-10. Extensive cockpit armor and self-sealing fuel tanks were provided.

Alternate gun arrangements could be chosen: two 37-mm and four .50-caliber, one 37-mm and one 75-mm, or one 75-mm and two .50-caliber guns. The usual arrangement actually installed was six .50-caliber nose guns, with 400 rounds per gun, along with the usual guns paired in the two turrets with 500 rounds each. The bomb bay could accommodate six 500 or four 1,000-pound bombs. Beginning with the A-26B-15, fixtures under the wings could accommodate eight more .50-caliber guns or four more 500-pound bombs. Five aircraft from the A-26B-15-DL line were finished as A-26C-DL bombers with transparent nose enclosures and two nose guns.

Delays in achieving mass production brought much criticism from the Air Force, including General Arnold’s complaint on March 13, 1944, that he wanted “A-26s for use in this war and not the next war.” He hoped to replace not only the A-20, but the B -25 and B-26 medium bombers with the A-26. DOUGLAS A-26B-5-DL

While the first 500 Invaders (to A-26B-40-DL) rolled out of Long Beach, a parallel production line was established at Tulsa, Oklahoma, for 500 aircraft ordered March 17, 1943, the first appearing in January 1944. Of these, 205 were delivered as A-26B-5 to A-26B-25-DT models and the rest as A-26C-15 to A-26C-25-DT with glazed noses. On most of these the engine model was the R-2800-71, with a new ignition system.

New production contracts for 6,700 more Invaders were approved March 29, 1944, and later. The first appeared in January 1945 as the A-26B-45-DL, introducing the R-2800-79 water injection engine yielding 2,350-hp WE (war-emergency) power. Beginning with B-26B-50-DL, fourteen 5-in. rockets could be carried under the wings, and six .50-caliber guns were mounted within the wings. Eight .50-caliber nose guns brought the total to 14 fixed guns. Additional range could be attained from two 155-gallon external wing tanks, or a 125-gallon tank could replace the lower gun turret.

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