MIflyer
1st Lieutenant
B-26F of 497BS
Picture of the day. (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter syscom3
- Start date
Ad: This forum contains affiliate links to products on Amazon and eBay. More information in Terms and rules
Elvis
Chief Master Sergeant
Wasps (
)
Zippythehog
Senior Airman
- 740
- Jan 7, 2017
The flying prostitute- wings so stubby, she has no visible means of support.
MIflyer
1st Lieutenant
10th Photo Recon 15th TRS F-6C with Lt Col Simpson. Usual pilot was Capt Hoefker. Note that the recon Mustangs have a whip antenna rather than the AN-104 mast used on the fighters. I can understand why the radio equipment had to be rearranged to accommodate the cameras located in the areas normally used by the radios, but I do not know what kind of antenna that is. Photo from Ralph Woolner.
In fact rather a myth... losses of B-26 were lower than in "beloved" B-25...
Zippythehog
Senior Airman
- 740
- Jan 7, 2017
Interesting, is that a comparison of total lost or per hour of operation vs loss? There were almost 2 times the number of B-25s built than B-26s. So, if it's a flat comparison of total number lost, it seems there would be more B-25s lost.
I also seem to recall that the B-26 had many training accidents. It would be worthwhile to find the Vmc for both airplanes. That along with wing loading would shed some light on the respective aircraft performances and handling characteristics.
SaparotRob
Unter Gemeine Geschwader Murmeltier XIII
No B-19s were lost to interception or AAA.
Zippythehog
Senior Airman
- 740
- Jan 7, 2017
Lol.
Greg Boeser
1st Sergeant
A fact often overlooked.
Greg Boeser
1st Sergeant
Lies, damn lies, and statistics.
B-26s always had a much higher accident rate than B-25s. But B-26s had a much lower combat loss rate than B-25s in Europe. This was not true in North Africa. But that could be due to inexperienced crews flying the short wing B-26B.
Yes, IMHO, the VMC seems to be a childrenhood Marauder problem. But when pilots learned how to fly B-26, it turned out to be a good, durable plane.
Losses counted just by number of crashes, without calculating number of machines produced-? It seems mindless, but I don't have that exact knowledge.
Zippythehog
Senior Airman
- 740
- Jan 7, 2017
With such an amazing combat record like that, it's a shame it never went into production.
SaparotRob
Unter Gemeine Geschwader Murmeltier XIII
I know, right?
special ed
2nd Lieutenant
- 5,595
- May 13, 2018
USAAF Air Training Command also had a notable combat record. George Goble said no Japanese fighter ever got past Oklahoma where he was stationed.
Greg Boeser
1st Sergeant
Not even the Fighting Red Tails can make that claim.
MiTasol
1st Lieutenant
A couple more ATS and WAAF women at war.
I have got a positive ID on five of the ATS ladies from Pauline Gower's Wiki page Pauline Gower - Wikipedia. She and other ATS pilots were in the thick of it for almost a year before Pearl Harbor.
To quote wiki
Gower was appointed as the head of the women's branch, and commenced the selection and testing of women pilots, the first eight being appointed by the ATA on 1 January 1940. Early members included ice-hockey international Mona Friedlander, Margaret Fairweather (Lord Runciman's daughter) and former ballet dancer Rona Rees.[18] Later members included Amy Johnson, Lettice Curtis and former Olympic skier Lois Butler.
Lettice Curtis in an Anson.
Oxford Ambulance - I do not recall ever seeing a photo of that version before.
Pauline Gower and Oxford
Servicing an Pratt.
I have got a positive ID on five of the ATS ladies from Pauline Gower's Wiki page Pauline Gower - Wikipedia. She and other ATS pilots were in the thick of it for almost a year before Pearl Harbor.
To quote wiki
Air Transport Auxiliary
On the outbreak of the Second World War, Gower made use of her high-level connections to propose the establishment of a women's section in the new Air Transport Auxiliary —the ATA would be responsible for ferrying military aircraft from factory or repair facility to storage unit or operational unit—to the authorities. Based at Hatfield, Gower formed a ferry pool, initially made up of eight female pilots in December 1939.[16] Joan Hughes, Margaret Cunnison, Mona Friedlander, Rosemary Rees, Marion Wilberforce, Margaret Fairweather, Gabrielle Patterson and Winifred Crossley Fair were known as the First Eight.[17]Gower was appointed as the head of the women's branch, and commenced the selection and testing of women pilots, the first eight being appointed by the ATA on 1 January 1940. Early members included ice-hockey international Mona Friedlander, Margaret Fairweather (Lord Runciman's daughter) and former ballet dancer Rona Rees.[18] Later members included Amy Johnson, Lettice Curtis and former Olympic skier Lois Butler.
Lettice Curtis in an Anson.
Oxford Ambulance - I do not recall ever seeing a photo of that version before.
Pauline Gower and Oxford
Servicing an Pratt.
Last edited:
MIflyer
1st Lieutenant
Of course most B-26 combat was in the ETO. And in the book "Flying the B-26 Over Europe" the author, a navigator, explains why. They went to the RAF and asked for advice. The RAF told them that it took something like 5 min for the Germans to figure out the speed and direction of a flight of aircraft and lay an ambush box barrage. So if you are flying around Europe in daylight, you should change direction less than every 5 min and thus throw off the Germans' AAA targeting. USAAF Heavies could not do that and such ambushes were less effective against them anyway since they were 1 or 2 miles higher and larger guns were needed compared to the B-26's at 15,000 ft.
So the lower loss rate of the B-26 was very likely due to the rather extreme but effective tactics employed in the ETO. It seems that B-26's in the ETO almost never did low altitude work and strafing, despite those package guns on the side.
Postwar the B-26 was gone in a flash, and although the B-25 was no longer used as a bomber either, even before the end of WW2 it was being adopted as a multiengined trainer, where it had been found to be much less dangerous than the AT-9's, AT-11's and other small twins. The B-25 stayed on as a trainer and general hack transport for the USAF and ANG until at least 1955, with some photos showing there were still some left in 1965. They were also used for mosquito spraying.
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
Regarding Post # 25,105 and the P-51 whip antenna.
On the P-51B/C, the original antenna was a tubular mast, eventually replaced with a "streamlined" mast, similar in appearance to, for example, those fitted to the P-47. This was mounted immediately behind and above the cockpit rear "quarter pane" windows, on the rear cockpit frame, above the radio equipment.
However, when the sliding "Malcolm" hood was fitted, the original mast would have prevented the hood from opening, so it was removed, and a whip antenna re-located further aft, as shown in the photo. This was the same on all P-51B/C models, not just photo-recce variants.
BTW, that's a very nice shot, and a good example of how "natural metal" looked.
On the P-51B/C, the original antenna was a tubular mast, eventually replaced with a "streamlined" mast, similar in appearance to, for example, those fitted to the P-47. This was mounted immediately behind and above the cockpit rear "quarter pane" windows, on the rear cockpit frame, above the radio equipment.
However, when the sliding "Malcolm" hood was fitted, the original mast would have prevented the hood from opening, so it was removed, and a whip antenna re-located further aft, as shown in the photo. This was the same on all P-51B/C models, not just photo-recce variants.
BTW, that's a very nice shot, and a good example of how "natural metal" looked.
