B-26 Marauder

[Sisko]

Hey all

It's been awhile since I posted anything been very busy travelling a lot.

While travelling I saw a Revell 1/72 scale B-26 and within a couple of minutes a what if idea popped, no stormed  into my head I just had to have it.

I dream of Surplus B-26's updated and used by third world airfiorces as counter insurgency aircraft.

The nose could be packed with guns ala an invader, fitted with wing tip tanks, rocket pods and maybe a jet to repace the rear turret. I think that I will ahve to hurry up and finish my current projects otherwise I could be in trouble.

Maybe some other post war bombers copuld get the same treatment. Thoughts?

[Radish]

B-26 Marauder....lovely aircraft.

Like the idea of turning it into a COIN/INTERDICTER

USAF in Vietnam?
South Vietnamese/Thailand?
Saudi Arabia? Israeli?? Pakistan???

     

Why not 4 x 20mm cannon in the nose?

B) Why don't the Soviets supply their thousands of redundant A-20s, modify and rebuild like the USAF A-26s and supply them to North Korea? North Vietnam??
China???


How about turning the Lancaster into a low-level interdicter?
Underwing rockets?
   

[Joe C-P]

Just look at its fellow twin-engine bomber, the B-25, for plenty of ideas.

How about a torpedo bomber?

[Madoc]

Folks,

And just why didn't the B-26 have a life after WWII?  I know B-25's were still flying military missions through the 50's and there are plenty of those birds still airworthy.  The Invaders were still in US service into the 70's - but why not the Martin product?

Payload?  Maintenance?  Operational problems?  I know the type caught a rep for being a "widow maker" but that was early on with its small wing.  In US service the plane proved _very_ reliable and was much in demand - but not after the war.  Why?

Madoc

[Swamphen]

The BoP a/c were A-26 Invaders, confusingly redesignated B-26 in 1948...

[Jschmus]

I wonder if any of the postwar jet bombers could have been reworked that way.  B-45 Tornado into A-45?  I know they weren't especially fast, but it's in the same class.

[elmayerle]

And just why didn't the B-26 have a life after WWII?  I know B-25's were still flying military missions through the 50's and there are plenty of those birds still airworthy.  The Invaders were still in US service into the 70's - but why not the Martin product?

Payload?  Maintenance?  Operational problems?  I know the type caught a rep for being a "widow maker" but that was early on with its small wing.  In US service the plane proved _very_ reliable and was much in demand - but not after the war.  Why?

I've seen pics of a few converted to executive aircraft, but that's it.  I suspect that the B-25 was somewhat more forgiving and adaptable, hence the preference for it.  Certainly the more squared-off cross-section of the B-25, and for that matter the A-26, made them more adaptable than the smooth, round, cross-section of the B-26.  Still, I think a solid-nose attack ground attack variant of the Marauder would be a very nice "what if".

[nev]

Folks,

And just why didn't the B-26 have a life after WWII?  I know B-25's were still flying military missions through the 50's and there are plenty of those birds still airworthy.  The Invaders were still in US service into the 70's - but why not the Martin product?

Payload?  Maintenance?  Operational problems?  I know the type caught a rep for being a "widow maker" but that was early on with its small wing.  In US service the plane proved _very_ reliable and was much in demand - but not after the war.  Why?

Madoc

Regarding its early career I know that the "authorities" were in such a rush to get it into service they didn't bother with proper flight testing so when it got to the squadrons it was still full of bugs that needed to be ironed out.

As for why it never stayed in service after the war, one of those things I guess, kinda like the way the P-47 disappeared from US service quicker than you could say "demobilise" whilst the P-51 lived on for years.  And I'm 99.9% certain the USAF would have preferred the Jug to the Pony for its ground attack missions over Korea.

[P1127]

The BoP a/c were A-26 Invaders, confusingly redesignated B-26 in 1948...

Which was why they scrapped the Maurauder, they needed the designation!!

Seriously, it was all to do with standardisation and drawdown, they no longer needed so many medium bomber types, so they used the most modern, the A-26.

The redesignation is down to the USAF being formed and not liking the A for Attack designation (If you think about it they have only used it twice since, for the A-37 and A-9/10)

[Gary]

Not discounting how hot and sexy the B-26 was, it was still a bit more of a handful to fly as compaired to the Invader. If you were in power and facing a demoblization in major numbers, it seems to me that the logical choice would be to pick the less dangerous aircraft.
Honestly, that airplane reeks of performance. She's sexy and fast and all that plus a bag of chips, but you need to conserve your resources and supplying your pilots with a safer aircraft that's less likely to eat dirt than another is a simple choice.

[dragon]

The BoP a/c were A-26 Invaders, confusingly redesignated B-26 in 1948...

Which was why they scrapped the Maurauder, they needed the designation!!

Seriously, it was all to do with standardisation and drawdown, they no longer needed so many medium bomber types, so they used the most modern, the A-26.

The redesignation is down to the USAF being formed and not liking the A for Attack designation (If you think about it they have only used it twice since, for the A-37 and A-9/10)

What about the A-7?

[NARSES2]

What about a Lanc with the nose packed full of guns.

Man that would pack a wallop.

At one UK Nats there was a six engined ASW Lanc configured for low level anti U Boat ops ! I seem to remember it was in a black/white dazzel scheme ? Terry will remember a bit more probably. There was a picture in one of the Mags at the time (probably MIS as they always viewed us more kindly then the others, until recently at least - and not withstanding Mike M of course)

Talking of the "A" designation. There were plans to produce a solid nose attack variant of the Mixmaster - 12 or 24 (?) 0.5" in the nose and a fighter style canopy.

Chris

[Jschmus]

Dragon,

The A-7 was a political expediency thing for the Air Force.  It had one of the shortest, most problem-free development processes of any aircraft of its time (first flight 1965, squadron service late 1966).  The Army had issued a requirement for a close air support aircraft, and the Air Force had just finished telling the Army they couldn't operate their own fixed-wing aircraft, so...

As mentioned above, the Air Force never liked the "A" designation, so after WWII, all attack types were redesignated either "F" for fighter or "B" for bomber.  The Air Force didn't operate another "A" type until Vietnam, and these were either re-designated A-26 Invaders or A-1 Skyraiders (borrowed from the Navy).  They adopted the A-7 for Air Force service, but only after making a few changes (engine, cannon, refueling apparatus).  After Vietnam, they passed most of them into AFRES and ANG service, though they were used through the 80s as a cover story for the unit that was working up the F-117 (another mis-designated aircraft).

The Air Force doesn't like ground attack, and has tried several times to exclude the mission from their area.  The original requirement for the F-15 said, "not a pound for air-to-ground".  Now look at the F-15E.  The original requirement for the F-16 was for a light air-defense fighter.  Even the F/A-22 started life as a pure air superiority fighter.

[Geoff_B]

Hmmn This talk of the Maurader and The Jug does provide us with an interesting What-if option. "What-if" these aircraft were not disposed with as quickly as they were in realitiy and instead were recalled for duty in Korea. Possibly in the hands of Reserve units or as part of the UN forces or evan as part of the fledgling South Korean Air Force.

A offshoot of this idea could be that with a rapidly closing Iron Curtain the US sanctioned the rebuilding of the Japanese industry to develop some of the late war concepts rather than having to rely on Western aircraft ?. Just a What-If idea but could lead to some interesting models.

G B)  

[Radish]

Most P-47s were sold to various Allies, particularly the French, Yugoslavian Turkey, Portugal, Iran, and a large number were allocated to South American countries. In contrast, the P-51D was hardly ever sent abroad, apart from Sweden, that bought a lot of European-based P-51Ds that would otherwise have been scrapped. Many of the Swedish P-51Ds remained unused until sold on to others.....Israel, South American countries, etc.. Most South American Mustangs, if not all, were BOUGHT by the  particular country, rather than supplied under MAP by the US. (For example, there's a photo of a Nicaraguan F-51D still wearing the 78th FG black/white checked nose it had when the Swedes bought it from the USAAF!!)
Consequently, with ANG units flying a lot of F-51Ds/Ks, the USAF was able to use a lot ('cause it lost a lot!) of Mustangs in Korea.
Some B-25 Mitchells served in Korea. I built a TB-25K used to identify NK radar sites, that were then attacked by accomanying B-26 Invaders. REAL too, based on a number of photos.
Dominica, for example, had F-51D Mustangs in front line serice until 1984, but only bought these (from Sweden in '52 I think), 'cause the UK wouldn't sell Spitfire 22s to them! We offered Seafire XVIIs (crap, of course) and the Dominicans said NO and spent their money more wisely. A Dominican Spit 22/24 would be nice.
As would :

RAF Thunderbolt III, based on the P-47N, in SEAC colours

South Korean/USAF F-47D or N

South Vietnamese F-47N

Interestingly, the Soth Koreans wanted to bolster their Air Force just one year before the outbreak of the Korean War, as their most warlike aircraft was the T-6 Texan. They wanted to buy about 70 F-38L Lightnings from the USAF that were stored in Japan.
The US said there was no need, no threat had been identified and the sale was unneccesary. The Lightnings were scrapped.

South Korean F-38L Lightning??

Also,, the US "5th Intelligence" identified that the NKs were flying, apart from the usual Soviet supplied aircraft, a number of Chinese Communist supplied F-39 Airocabras, F-63 King Cobras, and most interestingly, ALL BLACK MUSTANGS!!!
When I built my 1/48th South Korean Mustang, I "twinned" it with an NK one!! A cracker.