Well actually found behind the post office here in Charlotte at Douglas airport. These are not at the museum they are sitting in an old US Air parking lot next door to FedEx. Anyone recognize anything? Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
It appears that the fuselage in the foreground would be a T33 and the one in the right background a Douglas A-26. Switches
+1.........or it could also be a A-20 Douglas Havoc on the right........in the top pic, beside the container, you have an uncovered Matador missile body.......sans wings. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Sorry for the poor pic quality (cell phone drive by) I was in a hurry to get to the post office before five...last day to file, but that is another story. You guys never disappoint...I'll get better pics and post them, curiosity is killing me now.
It that is indeed an A-20 Havoc, then you have found the needle. Only 2 exist to my knowledge. Kermit Weeks has one at his Polk City, Fl musieum and William Farrah....the slack/pants guy form Texas has the other.
I guess that is why I sort of hedged my guess since there haven't been any flying around for years. The last one I saw was in 1951 at Boeing Field and it was an " executive transport". A gun nose version of one ( a P-70) came through Hondo when I was there in 1944 and it impressed everyone with a 20 foot high buzz job when it left. A damn good airplane. Switches
I spent some time looking at the photos to find an A-20. It may indeed be there. I though I'd share a little story. I had a high school teacher at Randolph-Macon Academy who was a retired air force Col. who had flown A-20s during the war. Col. Downey was our comandant and my history teacher. He said that they were training in Ala. or Miss. when war broke out and they were dropping flour bags at that time. They went on anti submarine patrols. Then went to europe. I remember him telling me the story about heading back to the base when over occupied France and spotting a couple 109s that then spotted them. They landed with foliage in the leading edges of the wings. I know it's almost a cliche , but you just know it had to happen more than once. I always liked the Havoc and felt a slight connection to it.
A-26s made by Douglas a plenty. B-26s by Martin...not. Only one of those to be had. Also in Kermit Weeks' coral in Florida. Douglas A-26 top pix. Martin on the lower. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I'm going to still go with a Douglas A-26 in that picture...that was later named the B-26 since the war was over and the Martin B-26 was no longer in the inventory. The Martin B-26 was a serious airplane. One that you did NOT make a mistake in.. I remember seeing them buzzing the beach in front of our house in -42,-43 and they were loud, fast and dangerous. They were based at MacDill Field during the war and there was a well earned motto, " One A Day In Tampa Bay". When I was flying around there after the war several times I would see wreckage surface in the sand of the bay when the tidal currents would uncover them. My late brother-in-law flew them in New Guinea and he said that a larger percentage of them would usually return when they were shot up but the B-25 was much nicer to fly. I saw one of the first Douglas A-26's in 1943 when it buzzed our highschool during football practice. No one knew what it was but it was obvious that it was something new...and fast. My brother-in -law flew those, too, after the war and classified it as a twin engine fighter. Here I go again, digging thru my mental files. Switches
I have to admit that the majority of the reason I posted these was to get you going through those files...I love reading the stories. Thank you!
Got out of the car today... Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Yep.......up close from that angle I agree that it is an A-26 fuselage as well.........and I think we've got an F-86D fuselage beside the T-33 fuselage in that other pic....... You should tell the guy that AVIATION is the correct spelling of the word on the Batcave sign.
I see an early 707 engine and nose coel on the dock. It has the turbo compressor intake on the top and the sound attenuator still on the exhaust nozzle. Intereting stuff at that AVAITION facility. Switches
Talked with some guys at the Monroe Executive Airport airshow this weekend...turns out it is an A26 that was found in a swamp in Florida. Instead of waiting for help to remove the wings they were sawed off...so this one will not be flying again...I guess spelling wasn't the only shortcoming.