The B-26 Marauder is a relatively obscure bomber to history although faster and capable of carrying a larger bomb load than the B-25 (p.DF00). It was nearly removed from service on several occasions, but went on to have the lowest loss rate of any aircraft type with the 9th Air Force.
Troubles for the B-26 began shortly after delivery with several fatal wrecks on takeoffs and landings during crew training and earned it the nickname “Widow Maker.” This was linked to several problems, from inadequate wing area (another nickname was “Flying Prostitute” as the small wing area gave it “no visible means of support”) to lack of proper pilot training (and lack of proper knowledge by the trainers) to overloading the plane before takeoff. Several remedies were tried, including lengthening the nose strut to increase the wing’s angle of attack and raising the wing’s surface area by widening the wingspan.
The B-26 was tried as a low altitude bomber, with little success, and as a torpedo bomber, a role it was far too large for (the torpedo was carried on an underbelly rack which allowed use of the bomb bay once the torpedo was dropped). When the B-26 was used for medium-level bombing, at 10-14,000 feet, it came into it’s own and was used effectively in this role until the end of the war.
This design represents a mid production block B-26B. Early models had smaller wings (602 sf), which increased stall speed to 102 mph and raised top speed to 317 mph. Piloting rolls should be at -2 for takeoffs and landings (B-26’s with larger wings should give a –1 penalty). There were also various armament changes, depending on production block, for aircraft with both wing sizes. Earlier planes tended to lack the pod guns and had only one “beam” gun, firing to the rear and below. In all, some 1,900 B-26B’s were built, included 208 converted for use as target tugs. Nineteen were sent to Britain.
A final note: The B-26 Marauder and the ground support A-26 Intruder (basically an enlarged A-20 Havoc) are often confused with each other. The problem is made worse when, after the war, the designation system for the new Air Force was changed. By then, virtually all B-26’s had been scrapped and none were left in service. The A-26 was redesignated the B-26 and was used in Korea and Vietnam. Thus, in the span of less than 10 years, two different twin-engine planes were known as the B-26! (As a final touch of confusion, those B-26's still flying in Vietnam in the 1960's reverted to their original A-26 designation). The easiest way to tell them apart is that from the front the B-26 has a circular fuselage while the A-26 was more like a rounded square.
The B-26B has a crew of seven. The pilot fires the five fixed forward-firing
guns and the co-pilot assisted. The navigator also operated the radio.
The bombardier dropped the ordnance and operated a flexible nose gun. The
flight engineer mans the dorsal turret. Two gunners man the beam and tail
arms. The plane burns 129 gallons of fuel per hour at routine usage.
Subassemblies: Heavy Fighter-Bomber Body chassis +4, Heavy
Fighter-Bomber Wings +4, 2 Small AFV pods [Wings:F], full rotation Medium
Weapon turret [Body:T] +1, 3 retractable wheels +1.
Powertrain: two 1,432-kW aerial turbo/supercharged HP gas engines
[Pods] with two 1,432-kW props and 942 gallon self-sealing tanks [Wings];
4,000-kWs batteries
Occupancy: 7 CS Cargo: 5 Body, 2 Wings, 1 Medium
Weapon
| Armor | F | R/L | B | T | U |
| Body | 4/25* | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 |
| Wings | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 |
| Pods | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 |
| Cockpit** | 0/+20 | 0/+20 | 0/+20 | 0/+10 | 0/+30 |
* Navigator is only protected by PD/DR 3/5
** Protects pilot and copilot only
Weaponry
2¥Long Aircraft HMGs/M-2 [Tur:F] (400 rounds each)*
4¥Long Aircraft HMGs/M-2 [Body:F] (250 rounds each)**
1¥Long Aircraft HMG/M-2 [Body:F] (270 rounds)
2¥Long Aircraft HMGs/M-2 [Body:B] (400 rounds each)*
Long Aircraft HMGs/M-2 [Body:R] (200 rounds each)*
Long Aircraft HMGs/M-2 [Body:L] (200 rounds each)*
2¥2,000-lb Bombs [Body:U]
* Linked to fire in pairs
** Linked to fire in pairs. Additional link fires all four.
Equipment
Body: Large radio receiver and transmitter, IFF, autopilot,
advanced navigation instruments, bombsight, backup driver option, 4,000-lb
bomb bay. Turret: Universal mount.
Statistics
| Size: 71'x58'x22' | Payload: xx tons | Lwt: 15.7 tons |
| Volume: 640 | Maint.: 20 hours | Price: $104,000 |
HT: 8
HP: 525 [body], 450 [each wing], 50 [each wheel], 150 [each
pod], 75 [turret]
| aSpeed: 282 | aAccel: 13 | aDecel: 20 | aMR: 5 | aSR: 2 |
| Stall: 98 mph |
Design Notes
Design airspeed is 327 mph; the historical value was used, as well
as the actual 658 sf wing area.
Technically, four of the forward facing machine guns were in pods located
on the sides of the cockpit, with their ammo magazines (200 to 250 rounds
per gun) located in the body. For simplicity, the volume of the gun pods
has been subsumed in the body volume. Some planes had the guns removed
but the pods left in place. The fifth forward firing MG was located on
the starboard side of the nose.
Planes flown by the squadron commander were equipped with advanced bombsights.
The beam guns were located in the lower rear fuselage and could fire at limited angles to the rear and below.
The design is forced to split the fuel tanks between the wings and body; historically, the main and auxiliary tanks were located only in the wings, with demountable tanks in the bomb bays only for ferrying.
Variants
The B-26A had smaller wings and lacked the four pod guns and two beam
MGs. Both nose guns and a tunnel gun were .30-cal (Aircraft LMGs). Only
one tail gun was mounted. Maximum bomb load (including torpedo) was 5,800
lbs. and maximum takeoff weight was 16.5 tons. Top speed was 313 mph. Some
130 were built. The British used 52 as the Marauder Mk. I.
The B-26C was similar to the B-26B production run, but was made at a plant in Omaha (the B-26B was built near Baltimore). All B-26C’s used the larger wing (in fact, it was installed on the B-26C first). Some 1,200 were built, along with 275-350 AT-23B target tugs. The British received 123 and designated them the Marauder Mk. II.
The lone XB-26D was built to test deicing equipment.
The proposed B-26E removed several internal components, saving one ton. None were built.
The B-26F did away with the fixed nose gun (as did later B-26B/C’s). The torpedo rack was deleted. Only 300 were built.
The B-26G was similar to the B-26F, but used slightly different equipment. 150 were supplied to the British as the Marauder Mk. III. This was the last production model.