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B/w internal/external photographs throughout, with 9 in colour, line drawings, cutaways, etc. 100 pages. S/C £11.99 |
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WARBIRD TECH SERIES 29: MARTIN B-26 MARAUDER Frederick A. Johnsen The Martin B-26 Marauder occupies a controversial place on the bookshelf of some enthusiasts and historians. In its early iterations, the Marauder exhibited traits that were sometimes hazardous to neophyte bomber pilots. Some wags called the B-26 the Separator, because its handling idiosyncrasies separated the men from the boys. Yet, as all too often happens, the negative stories have lingered long after the B-26 evolved into a viable weapon. 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. There's a recurring theme in the B-26'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 into the AAF, it was procured as the first in a series of "off-the-shelf" programs, with compressed development times to hasten production. Nonetheless, military aircraft programs must be nurtured through sometimes-trying developmental periods. The B-26 had to endure development work even after it was ordered into production, as early models revealed deficiencies only made worse by evolving combat needs. Contents include: Preface - And the Thanks Go To…, Making the Marauder - Design and Contracting Rationale, Marauders - Model by Model, Full of Fight - Tactics and Travails, Marauder Moments - B-26 Service Stories, Special Full Colour Section: True Colours - B-26 Marauder Paint and Markings, Marauders for Training - TB-26, AT-23, and JM, Postwar Marauders - Museums and Merchants, Arming the Marauder - Guns, Bombs, and Torpedoes, Appendix A: USAAF Marauder Units - Who Flew the B-26, Appendix B: Specifications - Selected Marauder Specifications, Significant Dates - Key Dates in the History of the Martin B-26 Marauder. Other details include: Navy Marauders, Free French B-26s, Development History, Flak Damage, Tech Order Excerpts, AT-23 Variants. |
