OK, I think I am very close to having figured out what went wrong with
the sending of US Navy jets to fly passive cover for the D-Day B-26s
strikes. Hey, if I'm wrong, I'm wrong. But hear me out and see if there
are any flaws I have overlooked. Don't complain about exact times. I am
just rounding out the figures.
Attached is a memo of one of the post-operation discussions held at the
Pentagon which provides some of the vital clues.

Part of the problem is that not all the B-26s left Nicaragua together.
Billy Goodwin took off from Puerto Cabezas at 1:30 AM CST and arrived
over Cuba at 5:30 AM EST, about a 3-hour flight. He left about 6:00 AM
EST. The other crews of B-26s slept a couple of hours and delayed taking
off until 3:30 AM CST in order to arrive over Cuba at about 6:30 when
they were told they would have US Navy unmarked escorts. Unfortunately
whoever told them that there would be Navy jet cover at 6:30 failed to
remember to tell them that 6:30 meant local time in Cuba, which was one
hour ahead of their time in Happy Valley, so they really should have
taken off at 2:30 AM CST in order to arrive at 6:30 AM EST.
The next problem was that, I think, when Billy Goodwin flew over the
Cayman Islands just before 5:30, Admiral Clark mistakenly thought that
this was the sortie his planes were supposed to escort and he sent his
planes up to meet the B-26s. Unfortunately the Navy jets radio was VHF
whereas the B-26s radio was UHF so they had no way to communicate and
coordinate. So, the Navy jets arrived over the beach at about 5:50 AM
EST   and they stayed over the beach waiting until 7:30 AM EST when
their authorization expired and they had to return to the Essex. On his
way back to Nicaragua, Billy Goodwin passed the incoming B-26s at about
6:45 AM EST, 5:45 AM CST and tried to explain to them what was
happening. But by then it was too late. The B-26s arrived over Cuba at
about 6:30 AM CST, 7:30 AM EST and the US Navy jets had just left so
Castro's planes had control of the air.
One interesting sidelight is whether or not the D-Day air strike could
have taken out the Castro air force if they had been properly carried
out. I think the answer is YES. For example, I don't know what was going
through Billy Goodwin's mind, but Carreras was on the ground waiting to
go up at 5:30. He didn't go up until 6:30. Goodwin could have knocked
him off. If the late B-26s had arrived over the beach at 6:30 with US
Navy jet passive cover, they would have retained control of the air and
shot down Carreras or the US Navy jets could have shot him down if he
attacked them while they were trying to protect the B-26s. And the
supply ships would not have been sunk, thus increasing the odds for the
Brigade.
I am not a great fan of the invasion, but I think we have to be
objective that the invasion would have had a much great chance for
success if the air strikes had been properly coordinated.

Anthony Marsh