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B-26 Marauder
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Photo: Robert Deering 1991 Midland International Airport (MAF) Midland, Texas |
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Although
the Marauder did not make its first flight until Nov.
25, 1940, its design showed such promise that the Air
Corps ordered 1,131 B-26s in September 1940. The B-26
began flying combat missions in the Southwest Pacific in
the spring of 1942, but most were subsequently assigned
to Europe and the Mediterranean.
Bombing from medium altitudes of 10,000 to 15,000 feet, the Marauder had the lowest loss rate of any Allied bomber -- less than one-half of one percent. U.S., British, Free French, Australian, South African and Canadian aircrews all flew the B-26 in combat. By the end of World War II, B-26 crews had flown more than 110,000 sorties and had dropped 150,000 tons of bombs. In 1945, when B-26 production was halted, 5,266 had been built. |
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