Miloch wrote in
news
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_B-26_Marauder

also
https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/...er/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
A-26 Invader then assumed the "B-26" designation — before officially
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,
but also resulting in a wing loading of 53 lb/sq ft (259 kg/m²) for
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
1941–1945

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)
Powerplant: 2 × Pratt & Whitney R-2800-43 radial engines, 2,000–2,200
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)
Wing loading: 46.4 lb/ft² (228 kg/m²)
Power/mass: 0.10 hp/lb (170 W/kg)

Armament

Guns: 12 × .50 in (12.7 mm) Browning machine guns
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..........