29 MARTIN B-26 MARAUDER.pdf

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MARTIN

I VOLUME 291

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FREDERICK A. JOHNSEN

• Navy Marauders

• Free French 8-26s

• Development History

• Flak Damage

• ·Tech Order Ex'cerpts

• AT-23 Variants

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WARBIRDTECH ~~

VOLUME 29

MARTIN

By FREDERICK A. JOHNSEN

Published by

Specialty Press Publishers and Wholesalers

11605 Kost Dam Road

North Branch, MN 55056

United States of America

(651) 583-3239

Distributed in the UK and Europe by

Airlife Publishing Ltd.

10 1 Longden Road

Shrewsbury

SY39EB

England

ISBN 1-58007-029~9

means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage

and retrieval system, without permission from the Publisher in writing.

Material contained in this book is intended for historical and entertainment value only, and is not to

be construed as usable for aircraft or component restoration, maintenance or use.

Printed in the United States of America

Front Cover: Kermit Weeks' short-wing B-26 was photographed in 1998 over Florida. This Marauder

missed combat when it was forced down in the wilderness on its delivery flight to Alaska in

January 1942. Its initial recovery and restoration were undertaken by David Tallichet's warbird

organization. Aero Trader subsequently worked on the rare B-26 for Kermit Weeks. (Copyrighted

photo by Jim Koepnick courtesy Experimental Aircraft Association)

Back Cover (Left Top): A Martin employee worked on a Marauder tail gun mount which used the

Bell M-6 boosted hydraulic unit introduced during B-model production. (Martin via Stan Piet)

Back Cover (Right Top): A gleaming cutaway Pratt & Whitney R-2800-5 engine was a training aid at

the Martin B-26 school. (AFHRA)

Back Cover (Lower): Forward Fuselage structure of the B-26. (Frederick A. Johnsen Collection)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

THE MARTIN 8-26 MARAUDER

PREFACE ............•.....................•................. 4

AND THE THANKS Go To ...

CHAPTER 1: MAKING THE MARAUDER .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 5

DESIGN AND CONTRACTING RATIONALE

CHAPTER 2: MARAUDERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 19

MODEL By MODEL

CHAPTER 3: FULL OF FIGHT .•.................................... 29

TACTICS AND TRAVAILS

CHAPTER 4: MARAUDER MOMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 47

B-26 SERVICE STORIES

SPECIAL FULL COLOR SECTION: TRUE COLORS .......•................ 65

B-26 MARAUDER PAINT AND MARKINGS

CHAPTER 5: MARAUDERS FOR TRAINING

TB-26, AT-23, AND JM

CHAPTER 6: POSTWAR MARAUDERS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 81

MUSEUMS AND MERCHANTS

CHAPTER 7: ARMING THE MARAUDER .............•................ 87

GUNS, BOMBS, AND TORPEDOES

. ApPENDIX A: USAAF MARAUDER UNITS

WHO FLEW THE B-26

ApPENDIX B: SPECIFICATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

SELECTED MARAUDER SPECIFICATIONS

SIGNIFICANT DATES ............•..............•..•......•..... 100

KEY DATES IN THE HISTORY OF THE MARTIN B-26 MARAUDER

WARBIRDTEC :w

PREFACE

AND THE THANKS Go To ...

he Martin B-26 Marauder

occupies a controversial

place on the bookshelf of

some enthusiasts and histori-

ans. In its early iterations, the

Marauder exhibited traits that

were sometimes hazardous to

neophyte bomber pilots. Some

wags called the B-26 the Separa-

tor, because its handling idio-

syncrasies separated the men

from the boys. Yet, as all too

often happens, the negative sto-

ries have lingered long after the

B-26 evolved into a viable

weapon in the arsenal of the

Army Air Forces. By late 1943,

stories of crews deplaning from

a Marauder and checking the

sides of the fuselage for silver

casket handles were couched in

the past tense.

Marauder had to endure devel-

opment work even after it was

ordered into production, as early

models revealed deficiencies

only made worse by evolving

combat needs.

tion for the loan of Koepnick's

inflight photo of Kermit Weeks'

Marauder.

Somebody else deserves thanks

for helping this book get to-

press: You. Thank you for buy-

ing this volume in the War-

birdTech series. You have made

possible the phenomenal

growth of this series since its

inception in 1996. I am mindful

of that, and promise to do my

best to uncover new and inter-

esting facts and artwork to hold

your interest.

This look at the Martin Marauder

gets under the B-26's skin, with

references to technical manuals

and official Army Air Forces

reports and wartime correspon-

dence. As with any book of this

nature, the final result was

boosted by the help of many

people and institutions, includ-

ing: Air Force Historical

Research Agency (AFHRA), Lau-

rent Boulestin, Peter M. Bowers,

Don Keller, Cam Martin, Bill

Miranda, San Diego Aerospace

Museum, and Carl Scholl (Aero

Trader). Special thanks to Tom

Poberezny, Sue Smick, and pho-

tographer Jim Koepnick of the

Experimental Aircraft Associa-

Abbreviations used in notes and

photo captions include AFHRA

(Air Force Historical Research

Agency, Maxwell AFB, Alabama)

and SDAM (San Diego Aero-

space Museum).

There's a recurring theme in the

Marauder's procurement and

development - a theme that

still plays in aircraft acquisition

programs more than six

decades later. In an effort to

streamline the flow of the

promising B-26 Marauder into

the AAF, it was procured as the

first in a series of "off-the-shelf"

prog ra ms, with co m pressed

development times to hasten

production.

Frederick A. Johnsen

March 2000

Nonetheless, military aircraft

programs - at least those

which endeavor to push back

the frontiers of technology in a

meaningful way by introducing

new ideas - must be nurtured

through sometimes-trying

developmental periods. The

Short tail version of 8-268 (41-17704) was photographed for

general AAF identification purposes. (Larkins via Bowers)

WARBIRDTEC :w

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