A-26 Invader Units of World War 2

Overview

This book, by Jim Roeder, all around is a good addition to an Invader enthusiast's library. Overall, it paints a good picture of the background and development of the Invader and its use in WWWI, specifically. The book is thorough and thoughtful and logically arranged. It covers many aspects of the Invader that are of interest to the general reader. My main criticism of this work is that anyone who is attempting to use this book as a source for serious historical research approach it with a grain of salt as there are numerous errors throughout the book. These errors aren't the kind of thing that would detract a general reader from enjoying the book, but they may be obstacles in research-based interests. In the sake of trying to point out these issues, I have made a list of the errors in the book below, along with the actual corrections.

Versions & Editions

The book I have in my collection is the 1st Edition of this book, copyright 2010. It features the plane "Sugar Baby" on the cover. I have seen a 2nd version of this cover in one place, but I have not seen a second edition of this book, so I am unsure if this other cover was a prototype mockup or an intended 2nd edition. Every book seller that carries the book only seems to have the 1st Edition available.

Corrections

I will be going through the book in order by page. Many of the corrections are with the photo captions, and I will try to point these out specifically.

Pg 6 - Bottom photo - just a minor correction here. What is being referred to as "engine nacelles" are actually "engine cowlings".

Pg 7 - Top photo - The caption implies that the Invader was the first American medium bomber to feature a single pilot, but the Invader's immediate predecessor, the A-20 Havoc/Boston also featured a single pilot.

Pg 8 - Bottom photo - The caption talks about the "heavy framing" of the window reducing visibility. However, the cockpit style shown here is the Generation 2 cockpit that was introduced as a way to improve visibility. (He references this in the top photo caption on Page 9). The "heavy framed" window that reduced visibility was this, Generation 1 cockpit canopy.

Pg 9 - Text - Roeder states: "The introduction of a new component such as this inro an active production line could easily result in serious disruption, so it was not until I December 1944 that new aircraft fitted with the clamshell canopy started to leave the Douglas plants. Previous publications on the A-26 have stated that the new clamshell canopy was retrofitted to earlier Invaders fined with the original flat style canopy. However, the author has conducted extensive research in company literature and maintenance manuals, and pored over hundreds of production line photographs, and none have revealed evidence to support this belief. Interviews with air- and groundcrews have failed to confirm this either. The reason for this apparent error may be, quite simply, a case of mistaken identity due to a confusion of terms. That is, confusing the revised flat top canopy with the new revised bubble canopy. The revised flat top panel could easily be installed on aircraft completed before the introduction of the revised bubble canopy, groundcrew simply removing the screws that held the original framed canopy in place and then replacing it with the flat top panel. This switch could be accomplished without the A-26 having to be taken out of service. The clamshell canopy could not be installed on aircraft completed with the flat top canopy, however, as the redesigned component was higher at the front than at the rear and the angle of the front windscreen was altered. To even attempt to replace the flat top canopy with the revised bubble one would have required time-consuming and extensive metal and Plexiglas work far in excess of any potential benefit. There are examples of the A-26 Invader built with the original flat top canopy still in existence today, never having had their canopy assemblies replaced."

There's a lot to unpack here. The smallest point is that he says the clamshells left Tulsa during December 1944, however, the first plane equipped with a clamshell canopy was 43-22602, and it wasn't accepted into service until mid-January 1945.

More importantly, Roeder claims that the old flat top styles were not retrofitted with clamshells. He also states that no one ever talks about this being true, and that there are no photos supporting this, and that there are still examples of flat tops today, so based on all of this evidence, clearly it must be false and that the two canopies could not have been compatible. Now, Roeder's book is focused on WWII, so I will start by saying that during WWII it was exceedingly rare for these top canopies to be retrofitted onto flat top canopies. If Mr. Roeder limited his research only to that era, and only to those units, then I can understand why he may have thought that this was impossible. However, to take something that did not occur during WWII and then extrapolate that out to mean that it was possible at all, is false.

Why are there still flat top examples today if the planes were retrofitted? That's easy, because immediately after WWII many of the A-26s were placed in surplus and either sold off or scrapped. Civilians and private corporations purchased some of those, which included flat-top canopy models. Why retrofit something that wasn't going to be used? Roeder further goes on to state that there was not enough potential benefit for the modifications. This is a gross misstatement. The potential benefit is perhaps the biggest, most important benefit of all, crew safety. The flat top canopies were death traps. They were difficult to open during an emergency, difficult to keep open because wind pressure kept wanting to push them closed, and even if you could get them open, the pilot had to climb all the way over to the navigator's side in order to bail out. If the plane was rolling during its descent, the centripetal forces made this task exceptionally difficult. With the clamshell design, both panels could be ejected, and the crew had a much easier time of escaping the plane.

So, now we've answered why some flat top examples could exist, if the notion that the planes were retrofitted were true. But what about the retrofitting? Is there any evidence for this? Yes, there is. There are more than a dozen photos showing very early model Invaders (Pre-Block 25) that have been retrofitted with clamshell canopies. In fact, one of the planes arrived in Korea with a flat-top and after she was assigned to the 13th Bomb Squadron, the maintenance section's log indicated that they were going to "perform surgery" on the ship, and after that she was a clamshell canopy. So, not only could the canopies be swapped and retrofitted, but they could also be swapped in the field without sending the plane back to a depot.