Everyone has their favorites in the running (or that were already cut....sorry ).
Many of these planes came in various configurations and different versions, so what do you expect out of your favorite? Which model or configuration(s).
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A-26Invader A-26B-Block 50This is the gun heavy Invader most people think about (most earlier ones retrofitted to this standard as well)
8 X .50's X 400 rpg in the nose (twin vertical stack, as opposed to early horizontal layout)
6 X .50's X 400 rpg in the wings (internal, leading edge)
1 dorsal, 1 ventral twin .50 cal barbette with 500 rpg
4,000 lb internal load, 2,000 lb external wing mounted ord. Could include 2 torpedos, 1,000#, 500#, 250#, 100#, 2 Drop Tanks, and up to 14 X 5 inch rockets
Powered by 2 × Pratt & Whitney R-2800-79 Double Wasp water injected radials, rated at 2,000 hp (1.491 kW) each, with War Emergency Power of 2,350 hp (1.752 kW) -- 355mph was listed as the top speed.
Included the revised hi-vis canopy from the Block 30's
Only bad point. This was still a medium level bomber for ord, and would release it's bombs when the A-26C Pathfinder in the lead of a six-plane flight did (A-26C had the Norden Bombsight in it's glass canopy). After release, it would go low and look for targets of opportunity to strafe.
Good First Hand Account can be read here A-26C-Block 50This was the Pathfinder lead plane for level bombing attacks. In place of the multi-configuration solid nose, The "C" got the Norden Bombsight with clear nose section.
2 X .50's X 400 rpg in the nose (left side of nose section)
Otherwise, the same as above (6 X .50's in wings, engine, ord load), but lighter weight from lack of cannon, and more streamlined nose section, could take top speed to as much as 374 mph (if clean wing).
If the B- model is determined to not get drones, this plane's addition would allow use as medium level penetration bomber in a formation flight.
A-26B-Block 5First 30 planes sent to front line units for combat evaluations. I would not use this version myself, but it's addition would allow a 75mm gun package option among the plane-sets for those B-25H fans out there.
1 X 75mm manually loaded nose cannon, 20 rpg
2 X .50's X 400 rpg left side of nose section
6,000 lbs ord capability as above.
* 2 × Pratt & Whitney R-2800-27, -71 or -79 Double Wasp radials, rated at 2000 hp (1490.98 kW) each
* No internal wing guns. The early Invader could be fitted with 4-twin sets of .50's gun packs at the 4 wing points (8 X .50's X 400 rpg), but the drag from these reduced airspeed by 25 mph. Could not be jettisoned. Prevented use of wing points to carry it's 2,000 lbs of ordnance.
* "Fat Top" canopy, with poor visibility as compared to the redesigned one with Block 30's.
Those are the three versions. The first two are easier, as it all comes down to the nose section of the plane, otherwise they are identical. The third version would require the most changes, and is the most controversial version, as use of 75mm cannon for anti-shipping operations was ending in favor of the use of massed numbers of .50 cals by that time of the war. Even B-25's were replacing the 75mm for a bank of .50's around that time.
Which version of your plane do you want?
