Could Martin Have Built...

[KJ_Lesnick]

A bomber around the mid-1942 period if sufficient desire existed for a long-ranged, high-speed bomber that had no defensive armament in the United States with the following specs

• As fast or faster than the DH Mosquito
  
• Same maximum g-load as the DH Mosquito
  
• Range about the same as the later XB-42 Mixmaster
  
• A 4,000 pound maximum internal bomb-load
  

.
I'm curious because I sense a WHIF: They seemed to have a relatively low work-load during WW2, they were skilled in producing advanced designs, and I was thinking of an idea that kind of looked like the following

• Scaled down AJ Savage in shape
  
• No jet-engine in the tail obviously
  
• NACA 6-Series Foils
  
• Bell-mouthed cowling design with a bullet-nosed spinner to maximize meredith effect for a radial
  
• The biggest possible propeller that can be driven by the engine and not whack the ground
  
• I don't really care whether it has a nose-gear or a tail-dragger: I'm not sure what the USAAF's opinion was about this back then...
  

[jcf]

'relatively low work-load', I suppose 5,226 B-26 and 536 B-29 plus 1,575 Baltimore plus sundry other products, including
thousands of turrets and other equipment could be considered 'low'.

[Captain Canada]

They should have just built Mosquitos !

[sandiego89]

I would say yes, as Martin almost did build something like it.  The original design for the XB-33 Super Marauder was a derivative of the B-26, but had two 3350 engines, so quite a bit of power increase.  Meets your time frame of drawing board around @1940 and had the range, payload design of @ 4,000 lbs and likely close to the speed you are looking for.  Not sure why you need that much G loading.  Maybe not as nimble as the Mosquito, but gets you close.

Your range and speed requirements are pretty tough.  You want Mosquito like speed and manueverabilty, but medium bomber range.  Range requires fuel, and that drives a larger size/structure.  A B-26 derivative with radial engines makes sense for a Martin product, if you are williing to compromise a bit.    

This was the original XB-33 submission of around 1940, before it morphed into a much larger, scaled up version with 4 engines.  

So if you did something in plastic, do a Marauder derivative- take a B-26, remove the turrets to streamline and save weight, replace the engines with 3350's, and the spinners and you get pretty close to what you want.  Would be a fairly straightforward build.      

[Gondor]

When I saw the title I though the topic was about OGL 

Gondor

[kitnut617]

I would say yes, as Martin almost did build something like it.  The original design for the XB-33 Super Marauder was a derivative of the B-36, but had two 3350 engines, so quite a bit of power increase.  Meets your time frame of drawing board around @1940 and had the range, payload design of @ 4,000 lbs and likely close to the speed you are looking for.  Not sure why you need that much G loading.  Maybe not as nimble as the Mosquito, but gets you close.

Your range and speed requirements are pretty tough.  You want Mosquito like speed and manueverabilty, but medium bomber range.  Range requires fuel, and that drives a larger size/structure.  A B-26 derivative with radial engines makes sense for a Martin product, if you are williing to compromise a bit.    

This was the original XB-33 submission of around 1940, before it morphed into a much larger, scaled up version with 4 engines.  

So if you did something in plastic, do a Marauder derivative- take a B-36, remove the turrets to streamline and save weight, replace the engines with 3350's, and the spinners and you get pretty close to what you want.  Would be a fairly straightforward build.      

Don't you mean B-26

[sandiego89]

Don't you mean B-26

Dohh, of course. B-26. I dont think a twin engine B-36 would give the speed required    Typed a 3 by mistake. Fixed above.

[kitnut617]

Sometime ago, a friend gave me this set of 11 pamphlets on the B-26.

[jcf]

The twin-engine Model 189 XB-33 had more in common with the PBM Mariner than it did the B-26 Marauder. 

The project that was directly developed from the B-26 was the high-altitude, pressurized Model 182 XB-27.

BTW the Model 179 (B-26) Summary of Performance sheet to Circular Proposal 39-640 included data for three engine types; R-2600, R-2800 and R-3350.

Plus Martin evidently proposed a development of the Baltimore with R-3350 power. 

[jcf]

• I don't really care whether it has a nose-gear or a tail-dragger: I'm not sure what the USAAF's opinion was about this back then...
  

Ummm, seriously? All four of the mediums (A-20, B-25, B-26 & A-26) used by the USAAC/USAAF in the
period had a tricycle landing gear so I'd hazard the guess that it wasn't an issue.

[KJ_Lesnick]

sandiego89

I would say yes, as Martin almost did build something like it.  The original design for the XB-33 Super Marauder was a derivative of the B-26, but had two 3350 engines, so quite a bit of power increase.

Okay, so it would be an alternative history revision which entails the design continuing as a twin-engined design but parting with defensive armament...


joncarrfarrelly

Ummm, seriously? All four of the mediums (A-20, B-25, B-26 & A-26) used by the USAAC/USAAF in the period had a tricycle landing gear so I'd hazard the guess that it wasn't an issue.

That's not what I meant: I was wondering if they'd have objected to a tail-dragger...

[maxmwill]

What about something similar to the XB42 Mixmaster?

Not identical to it, but similar.

[jcf]

What about something similar to the XB42 Mixmaster?

Not identical to it, but similar.

Something like this North American concept perhaps? 

[PR19_Kit]

TWO V-3420s? 

That's a LOT of poke for that size of aeroplane. Was it in competition to the Mixmaster or something totally different?

[kitnut617]

Now that looks cool Jon, any more info on that ?

Interesting how they've done the contra-prop gearbox too.