Miloch <Miloch_member@newsguy.com> wrote in
news:pjkf6802utm@drn.newsguy.com:
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_B-26_Marauder
>
> also
> https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2015/september/pilot/f_mar
> auder
>
> The Martin B-26 Marauder is an American World War II twin-engined
> medium bomber built by the Glenn L. Martin Company in Middle River,
> Maryland (just east of Baltimore) from 1941 to 1945. First used in the
> Pacific Theater in early 1942, it was also used in the Mediterranean
> Theater and in Western Europe.
>
> After entering service with the United States Army aviation units, the
> aircraft received the reputation of a "Widowmaker" due to the early
> models' high accident rate during takeoffs and landings. The Marauder
> had to be flown at exact airspeeds, particularly on final runway
> approach and when one engine was out. The 150 mph (241 km/h) speed on
> short final runway approach was intimidating to pilots who were used
> to much slower speeds, and whenever they slowed down to speeds below
> what the manual stated, the aircraft would stall and crash.
>
> The B-26 became a safer aircraft once crews were re-trained, and after
> aerodynamics modifications (an increase of wingspan and wing
> angle-of-incidence to give better takeoff performance, and a larger
> vertical stabilizer and rudder). After aerodynamic and design changes,
> the aircraft distinguished itself as "the chief bombardment weapon on
> the Western Front" according to a United States Army Air Forces
> dispatch from 1946. The Marauder ended World War II with the lowest
> loss rate of any USAAF bomber.
>
> A total of 5,288 were produced between February 1941 and March 1945;
> 522 of these were flown by the Royal Air Force and the South African
> Air Force. By the time the United States Air Force was created as an
> independent military service separate from the United States Army in
> 1947, all Martin B-26s had been retired from U.S. service. The Douglas
> returning to the earlier "A for Attack" designation in May 1966.
>
> The B-26 was a shoulder-winged monoplane of all-metal construction,
> fitted with a tricycle landing gear. It had a streamlined, circular
> section fuselage housing the crew, consisting of a bombardier in the
> nose, armed with a .30 in (7.62 mm) machine gun, a pilot and co-pilot
> sitting side by side, with positions for the radio operator and
> navigator behind the pilots. A gunner manned a dorsal turret armed
> with two .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns (the first powered dorsal
> turret to be fitted to a U.S. bomber), while an additional .30 in
> (7.62 mm) machine gun was fitted in the tail.
>
> Two bomb bays were fitted mid-fuselage, capable of carrying 5,800 lb
> (2,600 kg) of bombs, although in practice such a bomb load reduced
> range too much, and the aft bomb bay was usually fitted with
> additional fuel tanks instead of bombs. The aircraft was powered by
> two Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp radial engines in nacelles
> slung under the wing, driving four-bladed propellers. The engines were
> manufactured at the Ford Dearborn Engine plant in Dearborn, Michigan,
> USA. The wings were of low aspect ratio and relatively small in area
> for an aircraft of its weight, giving the required high performance,
> the initial versions, which at the time was the highest of any
> aircraft accepted for service by the Army Air Corps.
>
>
> Role
> Medium bomber
>
> National origin
> United States
>
> Manufacturer
> Glenn L. Martin Company
>
> First flight
> 25 November 1940
>
> Introduction
> 1941
>
> Status
> Retired
>
> Primary users
> United States Army Air Forces
> Free French Air Force
> Royal Air Force
> South African Air Force
>
> Produced
>
> Number built
> 5,288
>
> Unit cost
>
> $102,659.33/B-26A
>
>
> Developed into
> XB-33 Super Marauder (Unbuilt)
>
> The B-26 Marauder was used mostly in Europe, but also saw action in
> the Mediterranean and the Pacific. In early combat, the aircraft took
> heavy losses, but was still one of the most successful medium-range
> bombers used by the US Army Air Forces. The B-26 was initially
> deployed on combat missions in the South West Pacific in the spring of
> 1942, but most of the B-26s subsequently assigned to operational
> theaters were sent to England and the Mediterranean area.
>
> By the end of World War II, it had flown more than 110,000 sorties,
> dropped 150,000 tons (136,078 tonnes) of bombs and had been used in
> combat by British, Free French and South African forces in addition to
> US units. In 1945, when B-26 production was halted, 5,266 had been
> built.
>
> Comedian George Gobel famously joked about being a trainer for this
> aircraft at Frederick Army Airfield (now Frederick Regional Airport)
> during the Pacific battles, boasting that "not one Japanese aircraft
> got past Tulsa".
>
> Specifications (B-26G)
>
> General characteristics
> Crew: 7: (2 pilots, bombardier/radio operator, navigator/radio
> operator, 3 gunners)
> Length: 58 ft 3 in (17.8 m)
> Wingspan: 71 ft 0 in (21.65 m)
> Height: 21 ft 6 in (6.55 m)
> Wing area: 658 ft2 (61.1 m2)
> Empty weight: 24,000 lb (11,000 kg)
> Loaded weight: 37,000 lb (17,000 kg)
> hp (1,491 kW) each
>
> Performance
> Maximum speed: 287 mph (250 knots, 460 km/h) at 5,000 feet (1,500 m)
> Cruise speed: 216 mph (188 knots, 358 km/h)
> Landing speed: 114 mph (90 knots, 167 km/h))
> Combat radius: 1,150 mi (999 nmi, 1,850 km)
> Ferry range: 2,850 mi (2,480 nmi, 4,590 km)
> Service ceiling: 21,000 ft (6,400 m)
> Power/mass: 0.10 hp/lb (170 W/kg)
>
> Armament
>
> Bombs: 4,000 pounds (1,800 kg)
>
>
Thanks for posting these. My parents (yes, both of them)
flew B 26's during the war. I have been collecting images
to do a big Marauder posting of my own someday. Need to
get on that..........
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