Martin B-26G Marauder
In response to a specification issued by the US Army Air Corps in 1939, Martin Aircraft designed and submitted the Model 179. Martin had a longstanding reputation as a designer of superb medium bombers, and the Model 179 showed much the same promise. It was very revolutionary: the aircraft used a circular fuselage to maximize payload and aerodynamics simutaneously. A twin-gun powered dorsal turret was added, a design so good that it would become the standard turret design for USAAC/USAAF bombers for the entire World War II period.
Despite being half the size of the B-17 Flying Fortress, it could carry a similar bombload at three times the speed. To further enhance the Model 179’s performance, Martin intended to “bake” the fuselage in a heating process designed to smooth out any wrinkles that occurred during construction, which was done in single large panels than the standard method of using smaller sections. In fact, the latter was the only problem the USAAC had with the aircraft: the Model 179, shortly designated B-26 Marauder, would be very expensive and time-consuming to build. Nonetheless, the USAAC placed an order for 201 aircraft, with the runner-up in the competition, the North American B-25 Mitchell, being selected to supplement Martin’s design due to lower cost and quicker manufacturer. The first B-26A flew in November 1940, and deliveries began immediately.
Also immediately, the B-26 began to run into problems. It was not necessarily a fault of the aircraft: the Marauder was simply too “hot” an aircraft for pilots experienced in slower, more docile designs, much less pilots fresh out of flight school. The B-26 had to be flown carefully at all times, especially takeoff and landing, due to a comparatively small wing for its size. The R-2800 engines were very powerful, and without regular maintenance, would overspeed and fly apart—and the B-26 was nearly uncontrollable on one engine. The landing speed was 105 mph, equal to that of many modern jet fighters. Landing too hard would inevitably collapse the nose landing gear. At MacDill Field in Tampa, Florida, 28 B-26s were lost in less than a year, 15 in a single month, leading to the phrase “One a day in Tampa Bay” and new monikers for the bomber: the “Martin Murderer,” the “Widowmaker,” “Baltimore Whore,” and the “Flying Prostitute” (as it had no visible means of support).
Accident rates were so high that cancelling the B-26 entirely in favor of the B-25 was considered, and the Martin Company directors were called in front of Senator Harry S. Truman as to why. Hearing that Martin had considered adding six feet to the wingspan but had decided against it due to cost, Truman demanded the design be changed. The subsequent B-26B did so, which helped some of the handling trouble. As some pilots were flatly refusing to pilot the Marauder, Martin asked two famous test pilots—James Doolittle and Jacqueline Cochran—to fly it. Doolittle successfully looped the B-26 on one engine, while Cochran said that anyone who was afraid to fly the B-26 was a “sissy.”
Slowly, the B-26 began to shed its murderous reputation. Its combat debuts in the Pacific and Europe had not gone well: four B-26s were hurriedly converted to torpedo bombers and sent out against the Japanese carrier strike force during the Battle of Midway in June 1942 with poor results, while a low-level strike mission at Ijmuiden, Netherlands in May 1943 led to the loss of all eleven B-26s on the strike. Nonetheless, despite these initial failures. the B-26 proved itself in the tactical bomber role in the Italian theater from late 1943 on, and over Europe after the Normandy landings.
The B-26’s high speed allowed it to attack from low-level and high speed, which could surprise the enemy defenders, and its crews gained a reputation for precision strike rivaled only by British Royal Air Force Mosquito units. It was especially effective in destroying bridges in northern Italy, denying German forces supplies, and in Operation Crossbow attacks against V-1 launching sites. With refined tactics, the B-26 was to post the lowest loss rate of any bomber in Europe; one B-26B, Flak Bait, flew 207 missions over Europe, the highest posted by any USAAF aircraft over Europe.
Despite its advanced design and enviable war record, the B-26 could never quite get rid of its initial poor reputation, and the advent of the Douglas A-26 Invader gave the USAAF a bomber with all the capability of the B-26 with half the cost. As a result, at the end of World War II, the Marauder fleet was rapidly withdrawn and nearly all the 5288 B-26s met the scrapper’s torch. Only seven aircraft are known to have survived.
"Shootin' In" was built as 43-34581--and ironically, never served with the USAAF. It was provided as Lend-Lease to the Free French Air Force in 1944, and flew combat with either the 31st or 34th Bomber Squadron. Placed in storage after World War II, it was bought by Air France in 1951 and used as a crew trainer. As one of the few B-26s left by the 1960s, the National Museum of the USAF bought the aircraft in 1965 and flew it back to the United States. 43-34581 was restored as a B-26B of the 387th Bomb Group at RAF Chipping Ongar, assigned to the 8th Air Force.
Though somewhat pedestrian in its nose art (compared to wartime B-26s) "Shootin' In" is one of the best preserved of the B-26 survivors. It is painted in immaculate standard USAF camouflage of olive drab over medium gray. The torpedo in the foreground is a reference to the use of the B-26 as an emergency torpedo bomber by the USAAF in the Pacific, most notably in the Battle of Midway. The results were not impressive, though that was more due to poor American torpedoes in the early years of the war than a problem with the B-26.
Martin B-26G Marauder
In response to a specification issued by the US Army Air Corps in 1939, Martin Aircraft designed and submitted the Model 179. Martin had a longstanding reputation as a designer of superb medium bombers, and the Model 179 showed much the same promise. It was very revolutionary: the aircraft used a circular fuselage to maximize payload and aerodynamics simutaneously. A twin-gun powered dorsal turret was added, a design so good that it would become the standard turret design for USAAC/USAAF bombers for the entire World War II period.
Despite being half the size of the B-17 Flying Fortress, it could carry a similar bombload at three times the speed. To further enhance the Model 179’s performance, Martin intended to “bake” the fuselage in a heating process designed to smooth out any wrinkles that occurred during construction, which was done in single large panels than the standard method of using smaller sections. In fact, the latter was the only problem the USAAC had with the aircraft: the Model 179, shortly designated B-26 Marauder, would be very expensive and time-consuming to build. Nonetheless, the USAAC placed an order for 201 aircraft, with the runner-up in the competition, the North American B-25 Mitchell, being selected to supplement Martin’s design due to lower cost and quicker manufacturer. The first B-26A flew in November 1940, and deliveries began immediately.
Also immediately, the B-26 began to run into problems. It was not necessarily a fault of the aircraft: the Marauder was simply too “hot” an aircraft for pilots experienced in slower, more docile designs, much less pilots fresh out of flight school. The B-26 had to be flown carefully at all times, especially takeoff and landing, due to a comparatively small wing for its size. The R-2800 engines were very powerful, and without regular maintenance, would overspeed and fly apart—and the B-26 was nearly uncontrollable on one engine. The landing speed was 105 mph, equal to that of many modern jet fighters. Landing too hard would inevitably collapse the nose landing gear. At MacDill Field in Tampa, Florida, 28 B-26s were lost in less than a year, 15 in a single month, leading to the phrase “One a day in Tampa Bay” and new monikers for the bomber: the “Martin Murderer,” the “Widowmaker,” “Baltimore Whore,” and the “Flying Prostitute” (as it had no visible means of support).
Accident rates were so high that cancelling the B-26 entirely in favor of the B-25 was considered, and the Martin Company directors were called in front of Senator Harry S. Truman as to why. Hearing that Martin had considered adding six feet to the wingspan but had decided against it due to cost, Truman demanded the design be changed. The subsequent B-26B did so, which helped some of the handling trouble. As some pilots were flatly refusing to pilot the Marauder, Martin asked two famous test pilots—James Doolittle and Jacqueline Cochran—to fly it. Doolittle successfully looped the B-26 on one engine, while Cochran said that anyone who was afraid to fly the B-26 was a “sissy.”
Slowly, the B-26 began to shed its murderous reputation. Its combat debuts in the Pacific and Europe had not gone well: four B-26s were hurriedly converted to torpedo bombers and sent out against the Japanese carrier strike force during the Battle of Midway in June 1942 with poor results, while a low-level strike mission at Ijmuiden, Netherlands in May 1943 led to the loss of all eleven B-26s on the strike. Nonetheless, despite these initial failures. the B-26 proved itself in the tactical bomber role in the Italian theater from late 1943 on, and over Europe after the Normandy landings.
The B-26’s high speed allowed it to attack from low-level and high speed, which could surprise the enemy defenders, and its crews gained a reputation for precision strike rivaled only by British Royal Air Force Mosquito units. It was especially effective in destroying bridges in northern Italy, denying German forces supplies, and in Operation Crossbow attacks against V-1 launching sites. With refined tactics, the B-26 was to post the lowest loss rate of any bomber in Europe; one B-26B, Flak Bait, flew 207 missions over Europe, the highest posted by any USAAF aircraft over Europe.
Despite its advanced design and enviable war record, the B-26 could never quite get rid of its initial poor reputation, and the advent of the Douglas A-26 Invader gave the USAAF a bomber with all the capability of the B-26 with half the cost. As a result, at the end of World War II, the Marauder fleet was rapidly withdrawn and nearly all the 5288 B-26s met the scrapper’s torch. Only seven aircraft are known to have survived.
"Shootin' In" was built as 43-34581--and ironically, never served with the USAAF. It was provided as Lend-Lease to the Free French Air Force in 1944, and flew combat with either the 31st or 34th Bomber Squadron. Placed in storage after World War II, it was bought by Air France in 1951 and used as a crew trainer. As one of the few B-26s left by the 1960s, the National Museum of the USAF bought the aircraft in 1965 and flew it back to the United States. 43-34581 was restored as a B-26B of the 387th Bomb Group at RAF Chipping Ongar, assigned to the 8th Air Force.
Though somewhat pedestrian in its nose art (compared to wartime B-26s) "Shootin' In" is one of the best preserved of the B-26 survivors. It is painted in immaculate standard USAF camouflage of olive drab over medium gray. The torpedo in the foreground is a reference to the use of the B-26 as an emergency torpedo bomber by the USAAF in the Pacific, most notably in the Battle of Midway. The results were not impressive, though that was more due to poor American torpedoes in the early years of the war than a problem with the B-26.