Description

The photos in this edition are black and white. Some aircraft deserve a measure of homage based on their aesthetics; others rate merit for longevity; and some purely by their performance. The racy Douglas A-26 Invader, veteran of three U.S. wars, rests securely in all three categories. Nurtured by famed designer Ed Heinemann and his team at Douglas Aircraft, the A-26 had good genes from the start. And yet, reputation isn't everything. Teething troubles with A-26 production early in its career caused delays that brought the ire of United States Army Air Forces chief Henry "Hap" Arnold. A couple decades later, wing failures over southeast Asia prompted concerns about strength, and gave rise to a beefy, much-modified variant, the K-model, prepared by On Mark Engineering.