Pilot Training Manual for the A-26 Invader

Washington D. C. Headquarters-U.S. Army Air Forces. 1945. Punch and clipbound in stylized titled coloured pictorial wrappers. Thin 4to. Classified "Restricted" and marked as such on each page.The January 1945 issue. Profusely illustrated with photographs, drawings, maps, diagrams, charts, etc. The A-26, the last aircraft designated as an "attack bomber," was designed to replace the Douglas A-20 Havoc/Boston. It incorporated many improvements over the earlier Douglas designs. The first three XA-26 prototypes first flew in July 1942, and each was configured differently: Number One as a daylight bomber with a glass nose, Number Two as a gun-laden night-fighter, (truncated) and Number Three as a ground-attack platform, with a 75-millimeter cannon in the nose. This final variant, eventually called the A-26B, was chosen for production.Upon its delivery to the 9th Air Force in Europe in November 1944 (and the Pacific Theater shortly thereafter), the A-26 became the fastest US bomber of WWII. The A-26C, with slightly-modified armament, was introduced in 1945. The A-26s combat career was cut short by the end of the war, and because no other use could be found for them, many A-26s were converted to JD-1 target tugs for the US Navy.A strange aircraft-designation swap occurred in 1948, when the Martin B-26 Marauder was deactivated and the Douglas A-26 was re-designated the B-26. (It kept this designation until 1962.) B-26s went on to serve extensively in both the Korean and Vietnam wars. In Vietnam, they were commonly used in the Counter-Insurgency (COIN) role, with very heavy armament and extra power. This version, the B-26K, was based in Thailand and was, to confuse things further, called the A-26 for political reasons. B-26s were also used for training, VIP transport, cargo, night reconnaissance, missile guidance and tracking, and as drone-control platforms.Post-war uses of the airplane included luxurious executive transport (Smith Tempo I; Tempo II and Biscayne 26; LAS Super-26; Berry Silver-Sixty; Monarch-26; On-Mark Marketeer/Marksman), aerial surveying and, most notably, firefighting, a role in which it is still occasionally used today. - warbirdalley Owners ink signature to front cover. Ink stamp of Salem Army Airdrome HQ dated 1945 to title Page and inside rear cover. Usual rust offset from metal binding pins to front and rear inside covers.2" shallow chip to fore-edge of front cover.An extremely bright and crisp, Near Fine copy of this original Second World War rarity. (Inventory #: 8787)