In 1939, the USAAF commissioned a study for a twin-engine airplane with a maximum speed of 560 km / h, a range of 4800 km and a bomb load of 910 kg. In July 1939 the company "Glenn L. Martin" proposed a prototype which entered into the specifications of the US military and which even surpassed it in some points. 201 models were ordered after the tests, and it was given the name of B-26. It took 2 years from the first drawings for the first planes to come out of the chains and in September 1940, 930 new models were added to the initial order.
The Martin B-26 Marauder was a medium-sized two-engine bomber with a sheet metal fuselage, with the crew as the "bomber" in the nose (a member with a mission to aim and help the crew to navigate) Armed with a .30-caliber machine-gun, a pilot, a co-pilot at his side, and a radio and a navigator station next to the pilot. Two machine gunners were also part of the crew: A machine gun in the back of the aircraft, armed with a .50 caliber machine gun and another machine gunner at the bottom of the aircraft armed with a .30 caliber machine gun.
Two bomb bays were present, for a capacity of 2600kgs of bombs (although such a load was only very little used, as it reduced the aircraft's autonomy too much). Most often, one of the berries was used to add fuel tanks.
The first flight, carried out by William K. "Ben" Ebel on November 25, 1940, took place without worry and the first deliveries to the American army were made in February 1941.
Some worries were noted from the first deliveries. One of his most important, which earned him his nickname "Widowmarker" (widows' doer), was his high speed required for landing. Pilots used to land at much lower speeds (190 to 217 km / h) and therefore tended to lower their speed, which resulted in a stall and sometimes A crash. Also, this aircraft was not intended for novices. However, the US Army needed more and more new pilots, who had to pilot this aircraft without much experience, which also resulted in crashes. After these first deliveries, modifications were made and the crash rate dropped to be much more acceptable.
This aircraft was the most widely used on the western front, where, for example, it protected the beach of Utah during the disembarkation. But it was also used on the Mediterranean Theater and in the Pacific.
He distinguished himself to bombard all types of targets at medium altitudes, but also when he was covered by hunters to destroy bridges, launch bases of V1 and V2 during the preparation of the landing of Normandy ...
At the end of World War II, the Martin B-26 Marauder made more than 110,000 sorties, dropped more than 136,078 tons of bombs and served Americans, French, English, South Africans. The 9th Air Force will also say that the B-26 was the bomber with the fewest losses in combat, although its popularity was strained because of its repeated accidents.
In 1945, when production of B-26 ceased, 5266 copies were produced.
Specifications :
Type: Medium Bomber
Crew: 7 men
Motorization: 2 x Pratt & Whitney R-2800-41 Double Wasp developing 1850 hp
Maximum speed: 454 km / h
Practical ceiling: 7,200 m
Range of action: 1,850 km
Empty weight: 11 476 kg
Weight: 16,783 kg
Wingspan: 19.81 m
Length: 17.75 m
Height: 6,05 m
Armament: 9 Browning M2 guns caliber .30 - 12.7 (6 fixed station on the fuselage and 1 for the rear turret)
1 double caliber .50 caliber for the dorsal turret
2 600 kg of maximum bombs
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