 it was a very slow process.
Photo Reconnaissance (13%):
Around 70% of the photo targets assigned were not completed due to low cloud ceiling, particularly in the mountainous I and II Corps areas. Another problem was that the pilot could not sight directly over the nose of the RB 26, so the navigator had to move to the nose position to direct him.
Again, the favourable endurance of the B 26 made it suited for most escort duties. Escorting trains or convoys was accomplished by a slowly advancing race track pattern, always keeping within sight of the escorted vehicles. No attacks were ever carried out against any escorted vehicles, at least not up to mid 1963. The B 26 was less suited for helicopter escort, due to its poor low speed capabilities.
Armed Reconnaissance (5%):
The long endurance of the B 26 theoretically made it suitable. However, since no strikes could be undertaken without a FAC, it was not much use flying this type of mission: even if a target was spotted it could not be attacked. Armed reconnaissance was therefore only carried out during deployment flights, seldom yielding intelligence and never resulting in strikes.
Visual Reconnaissance (0%):
Since the B 26s could be more profitably used on strike missions, visual reconnaissance was usually left to other types of aircraft.
The B 26 could theoretically carry a total of 7,500 pounds of disposable armament. But in Vietnam they seldom carried more than 6,000 pounds, and usually even less. One reason was the condition of the runway at Bien Hoa. Up to April 1963, when a 10,000 feet concrete runway was built, it was only 5,300 feet long and consisted mainly of deteriorating pierced steel planking. Since many of the strike missions were carried out in mountain terrain, it was also important to have the extra climb performance given by a lighter load. A typical ramp alert ordnance load consisted of two 500 lb napalm bombs and two LAU 3A 2.75" rocket launchers under the wings, plus six 100 lb GP bombs and six 120 lb frag clusters in the bomb bay. In addition, each nose gun had 350 rounds of .50 ammunition, giving a total ordnance load of about 4,000 pounds. Other alternative loads included six napalm bombs under the wings and twelve frag clusters in the bomb bay. Or two rocket pods and four 500 lb GP bombs under the wings, and six more in the bomb bay.
The minimum release altitude for bombs was usually 1,600 feet, with a pull out altitude of 1,000 feet to avoid bomb blast damage. Bombs were normally delivered in steep dives, and conventional straight and level bombing missions were rarely if ever flown. Rockets and guns were fired at considerably lower altitudes, while napalm was dropped as low as 50 200 feet.
A major problem was the two G load limitation imposed on seven of the Farm Gate B 26s after it had been discovered that the original waist gun optic sight mount, replaced by a plywood floor during previous IRANs, had been part of the load bearing structure of the fuselage. Most of the ordnance delivered by these aircraft therefore had to be released at a fairly high altitude, to permit a gentle recovery.
The rehabilitation status of the B 26s improved during 1963, with aircraft being rotated to Air Asia on Taiwan, or to Clark Air Base for IRANs. Some of the in country maintenance work was also contracted out to Air Vietnam. But there was still reason to agree with the report claiming that, 'to term the present B 26 an unsophisticated aircraft is to pay it an unwarranted compliment,' and the type was still seen as temporary equipment only, pending more suitable equipment, such as the Skyraider or the B 26K then under development.
During 1962, most B 26 missions had been carried out by single aircraft, while the T 28s usually flew in pairs. But with the loss of two Invaders to ground fire in February 1963, and the near doubling of the number of available aircraft, it became common to use pairs of B 26s instead of single aircraft, so that one Invader could suppress the ground fire while the other one carried out the actual strike. Similarly, T 28 missions were 