Martin B-26 Marauder

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_B-26_Marauder

also
https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/...lot/f_marauder

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)