B-26 Marauder

You are here: Home › Gallery › USA › Air Force ›
B-26 Marauder photo gallery

Click on thumbnail images to enlarge

Martin B-26 Marauder had a somewhat chequered career: in its early days “Widow Maker” was one of the least unpleasant names bestowed on it, and its continued production was in jeopardy at least four times. It had its faults, but in the hands of an experienced pilot was, as it later proved successfully, an excellent weapon, and by the end of the war in Europe Marauders had a lower attrition rate than any other U.S. aircraft. Designed in the early part of 1939, the Marauder was rewarded by an order for 1100 “off the drawing board” in September of that year. There was, consequently, no XB-26, the first flight being made on 25th November 1940, by the first of 201 B-26 Marauders, powered by two 1850 hp Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp engines. Most of the 139 B-26A which followed had later model—though similar horsepower engines, but by Pearl Harbour only one USAAF unit was equipped with the type. Three Marauders were sent at this time to the RAF for evaluation, and these were the predecessors of 52 Marauder Mk I (B-26A), 19 Mk IA (B-26B), 100 Mk II (B-26C) and 350 Mk III (B-26F and G) eventually supplied to the RAF and the South African Air Force (SAAF), and which were operational from 1943 onwards. Several variations of engine, bomb load, armament and other equipment were found among the 1883 B-26B Marauders completed, and tail defence was improved by a twin-gun turret; some of the later B-26B series, with twelve 12,7 mm MG, were almost as heavily armed as the B-17 Fortress, and other were completed as B-26C, of which model 1235 were built. The US Navy took on some Marauders for tar get towing and reconnaissance as the JM-1 and JM-IP; their later JM-2 were a few of the 57 TB-26Gs produced for the same role in the USAAF. Some early B-26 bombers were also converted as AT-23 trainers.

General Specifications

  • Type: Twin-engined medium bomber.

Wings

  • Configuration: Cantilever shoulder-wing monoplane with equal taper, rounded tips, and a flat upper surface.
  • Structure: Four sections—two inner sections forming the center-section and two outer sections with detachable tips. The structure is all-metal with a two-spar corrugated-box-type structure covered with flush-riveted stressed skin.
  • Ailerons: Located on the outer wing sections, featuring metal frames and fabric covering.
  • Flaps: Slotted flaps on the inner sections, divided by extensions of the engine nacelles.

Fuselage

  • Structure: Circular section all-metal monocoque, constructed in three sections bolted together.

Tail Unit

  • Configuration: Cantilever monoplane type with a dihedral tailplane.
  • Materials: Metal framework with metal-covered fixed surfaces and fabric-covered rudder and elevators. Trimming-tabs in control surfaces.

Landing Gear

  • Type: Retractable tricycle type with fully retractable wheels.
  • Mechanism: Main wheels retract into engine nacelles via a parallel linkage system with hydraulic retraction. A gravity drop system ensures gear deployment in case of hydraulic failure. The nose wheel retracts aft into a fuselage well.

Power Plant

  • Engines: Two Pratt & Whitney R-2800-43 eighteen-cylinder double-row radial air-cooled engines on welded steel-tube mountings.
  • Propellers: Four-bladed hollow-steel Curtiss Electric constant-speed full-feathering airscrews, with a diameter of 13 ft. 6 in. (4.12 m).
  • Fuel Tanks: Located in the wings with main tanks inboard of engine nacelles and auxiliary tanks outboard. Long-range ferry tanks can be installed in the bomb-bay.

Accommodation

  • Crew: Normal crew of seven, including positions for bombardier, pilot, co-pilot, navigator-radio-operator, waist-gunner, upper turret gunner, or tail gunner. All positions and vital parts are protected with armor plating.
  • Emergency Equipment: Includes a life raft stowed in the roof of the fuselage aft of the pilot’s compartment and escape hatches.

Armament

  • Machine Guns: Total of eleven 50 cal. machine guns:
    • One flexible in the nose.
    • Four “package” guns in pairs on each side of the fuselage forward of the wings.
    • Two in a Martin electrically-operated turret on top of the fuselage aft of the wings.
    • Two in waist positions, one on each side of the fuselage aft of the turret.
    • Two in a Bell tail turret with remote-feed ammunition racks from mid-fuselage.
  • Bomb Capacity: Internal bomb-bay can accommodate up to two 2,000 lbs or four 1,000 lbs bombs, arranged in pairs on each side of a central catwalk. The bomb-bay has hydraulically-operated doors.

Dimensions

  • Span: 71 ft. (21.65 m)
  • Length: 56 ft. 6 in. (17.23 m)
  • Height: 21 ft. 2 in. (6.45 m)
  • Wing Area: 658 sq. ft. (61.1 sq. m)
This entry was posted in and tagged
, .