B25 or B26, which was the better bomber?

[FLYBOYJ]

At least lookswise the B-26 edges out the B-25 by a mile. Its looks are that of a mean bastard, combining brutishness with yet a sleek appearance. An exciting plane. Of course I've read about its vices..
On the contrary the Mitchell looks like a boxy bore.

So just because it "looks" better means its the better aircraft?!?! While both aircraft performed well, the Martin B-26 disappeared pretty quickly after the war, that alone has to tell you something. The B-25 remained around for many years in secondary duties. Many people miss the fact that the "TB-25" was the standard USAF multi-engine trainer through out the 1950s, with the last one being retired in 1960.

 

[Shortround6]

Yep, A boxy bore, under wing bomb racks ( a few carried rockets) and one of the most heavily armed strafers ever built.
A "J" with a solid nose and the top turret locked forward had 14 .50 cal guns firing forward.

 

[Old Wizard]

 

[Balljoint]

And the B-25 was qualified for carrier service –well, at least one way.

 

[Greg Boeser]

Yeah. The B-25 was a way better carrier based bomber than the B-26.
Maybe if you lashed both the Hornet and Enterprise together end to end you could have gotten a B-26 airborne.

 

[Greg Boeser]

A question on the B-26 handling, do we know what the British/Commonwealth pilots thought of it and whether it was considered a handful?

We can probably draw some assumptions by the fact that they passed it off to the Commonwealth so quickly.

 

[FLYBOYJ]

We can probably draw some assumptions by the fact that they passed it off to the Commonwealth so quickly.

Passed it off? The Commonwealth had a purchasing commission and didn't pick up seconds just because they were there. If i recall there were many commonwealth B-25s as well, these don't seemed to be "passed off" either.

 

[GrauGeist]

There were quite a number of U.S. light and medium bombers "passed off" on the British...

Consolidated PBY = Catalina
Douglas A-20 = Boston/Havoc
Lockheed A-29 = Hudson
Lockheed PV-1 = Ventura
Martin A-30 = Baltimore
Martin B-26 = Maruader
North American B-25 = Mitchell

 

[Micdrow]

And the B-25 was qualified for carrier service –well, at least one way.

I assume you are talking about the Doolittle raid but the Navy later on did more experiments with the B-25 or known to the navy as the PBJ. As you can see by the pictures below from the book Squadron Signal B-25 in action book.

 

[Micdrow]

Another thing most people don't know about is when the J models showed up in North Africa with the blister packs they actually removed the blister packs to save weight as they did not go down to the deck for strafing attacks like in the Pacific. Basically the guns where not needed for medium to high altitude bombing

 

[Greg Boeser]

The same thing applied to MTO based B-26s.
In Europe the guns seem to have been left in place, but the only time I know of in which B-26s were allowed to strafe after the Ijmuiden attacks was Operation Clarion.

 

[Balljoint]

I assume you are talking about the Doolittle raid but the Navy later on did more experiments with the B-25 or known to the navy as the PBJ. As you can see by the pictures below from the book Squadron Signal B-25 in action book.

View attachment 352612

I assume you are talking about the Doolittle raid but the Navy later on did more experiments with the B-25 or known to the navy as the PBJ. As you can see by the pictures below from the book Squadron Signal B-25 in action book.

View attachment 352612

Doolittle would have appreciated that option.

 

[wuzak]

Passed it off? The Commonwealth had a purchasing commission and didn't pick up seconds just because they were there. If i recall there were many commonwealth B-25s as well, these don't seemed to be "passed off" either.

I assume he meant that aircraft purchased for the RAF were passed to the airforces of other Commonwealth nations, keeping the better ones for themselves.

 

[GrauGeist]

I assume he meant that aircraft purchased for the RAF were passed to the airforces of other Commonwealth nations, keeping the better ones for themselves.

Outside of Britain, the only operators of the B-26 (aside from the U.S., of course) were France and South Africa.

 

[Micdrow]

I started this thread back in 2007 but every once in a while update it but really needs an over haul but for those that are interested in B-25 weapons and other configurations.

B-25 weapons thread

 

[Shortround6]

The B-25 may have been slab sided but one could hardly call it boring.

 

[Peter Gunn]

I like both of them, they both look equally deadly/cool in their own way. The PBJ in the lower right of Midcrow's post looks angry and about to go kick some tail. But if I had to pick I'd go with the B-25.

 

[Norbert E. (Nick) Onaitis]

Changing a wing is a Big Deal. Period.

Hi, The regularity of crashes by pilots training at MacDill Field-up to 15 in one 30-day period-is what led to the catchphrase, "One a day in Tampa Bay.The B-26 was also called: The Widowmaker". Other colorful nicknames included "Martin Murderer", "Flying Coffin", "B-Dash-Crash", "Flying Prostitute" (so-named because it was so fast and had "no visible means of support," referring to its small wings) and "Baltimore Whore" (a reference to the city where Martin was based).
According to an article in the April 2009 edition of AOPA Pilot on Kermit Weeks' "Fantasy of Flight", the Marauder had a tendency to "hunt" in yaw. This instability is similar to "Dutch roll". This would make for a very uncomfortable ride, especially for the tail gunner. Fun, Fun, Fun! Pass the airsickness bags.
Personally, I wouldn't choose to fly in an aircraft that poorly designed.so bust me to A3C and put me to work painting rocks. I suppose that's one reason Martin later went belly up.
Nick

 

[GrauGeist]

Martin didn't go belly up - postwar Martin stayed current with the aircraft industry, became involved in the growing aerospace industry and eventually merged with Lockheed.

And Lockheed Martin is very much alive and well today - one of their many current projects is the F-35.

 

[spicmart]

So just because it "looks" better means its the better aircraft?!?! While both aircraft performed well, the Martin B-26 disappeared pretty quickly after the war, that alone has to tell you something. The B-25 remained around for many years in secondary duties. Many people miss the fact that the "TB-25" was the standard USAF multi-engine trainer through out the 1950s, with the last one being retired in 1960.

I did not mean that it was a better aircraft, just the looks. I know it was phased out because that fast because the Mitchell could do practically everything the Marauder did as a less risky airplane with much lower unit cost.
And I meant "boring" just compared to the looks of the B-26 not as an airplane per se.