Preflight preparations and procedures are explained with instructions on cockpit instruments and controls, engine startup, takeoff, maneuvering and on emergency landings.
My father flew this plane on 72 sorties in 1943...never saw the man get upset...I guess after doing this over and over everything else was a cake walk. He was and will always be my hero.
@batman56201 my grandfather flew the B-26 marauder as well from 42' until the end of the war. Brave and strong men these soldiers were. My grandpa was and always will be my hero 🙂 Miss him dearly.
Gidget's Pop sure did a great job here, he was a veteran but I know little of what his wartime contribution was, beyond making films. He had a hearing issue so didn't qualify for combat duty. Back during WWII, so many great actors, musicians, athletes and men and women from all walks of life volunteered and many sacrificed their lives. When I see them on film after finding out what they did for their country, I have a whole new respect for them.
I had a co-worker whose father was a top turret gunner in a B-26. His plane had a nose art of a woman and was named “Carefree Carolyn.” He showed me a collection of many pieces of flak that punctured and accumulated in his plane that he collected as souvenirs of his tour of duty. It’s quite a unique collection of old rusted pieces of metal. 🇺🇸
The B-26, A-26, P-61, P-47, F-6F, F-4U, F-7F, F-8F, C-46, DC-6 and PBM all used the same 2,000 hp Pratt & Whitney R-2800 “Double Wasp” radial engine. 👍🇺🇸
Someone wrote that the co-pilot in this training film was actor Craig Stevens. The pilot was played by actor Don Porter who among other roles played Ann Sothern's boss in the 1950's TV series "Private Secretary".
This is full manual flying. No computers here. Get right or you get dead. Salutes to all those guys who flew these in combat. They had the right stuff. This is a little whacky at times but a great instructional video. It is on DVD also
just to think my gpa flew one of these babys he passed this year at 96 2nd to last pilot alive of the b26s (one left i heard) flew 64 missions 2 on Dday.
My Dad flew 50 missions over Germany in the B-26. Survived crash landing in Italy. Gave a talk to AirPower group last week in Ft. Worth. Presented same talk by invitation on podcast this week. He is 93-1/2 as of today, 2-9-2018.
Don Porter was the pilot and Craig Stevens (Peter Gunn) was the co-pilot. Did not know the B-26 was the first U.S. bomber to have a powered gun turret.
Super great video one of the best on U tube. The b 26 crashed in Tampa Bay cause they were starting it over and over on internal batteries and when the battery got drained the internal batteries ( rem no alternators in those days ) Curtis electric props would freeze in flat pitch. Viola a runaway prop!!! A portable battery card solved the problem! ❤❤❤❤❤ my uncle flew the '26 in north Africa. He was the lead bombardier on the Monte Cassino mission.
The early models were killing so many pilots that Congress ordered an investigation. The wings were extended to help with stabilization on take-offs and landings because the speeds were considered high for pilots without experience. It got stuck with the mantra of 'Widow Maker' even though is sustained the fewest losses in combat because of it's good performance. I always thought this was the best looking bomber we built-back when we could actually design and yes, build good stuff. Just imagine, every component of that aircraft was manufactured here in the States.
It became a, Purple Heart within 3 World War II months aircraft: 44-67899. Posting a share on it yesterday. It was an aircraft, my father was the Navigator's signature of, until 11/30/44. When it was downed in Germany, six Americans were obviously attacked by Germans responding to crash site. But, only 3 were P.O.W. the other 3 were K.I.A.
The co- pilot is Craig Stevens who starred on the 50s TV show Peter Gunn. This training film was made in Culver City California - by a group of actors know as "The Culver City Commandos".
Actually filmed at Barksdale Field Louisiana. At 13:25 the large tower in the background is the water cistern with the building built around it, building with the doors facing parallel on the nose is known as Hanger 9 and the original tower is over the top turret in front of the vertical stabilizer. The building behind the 2 hangers on the left is now the Air Force Global Strike Command Hq. the large building seen behind the airplane is the current 8th Air Force Hq. My dad trained here in 1944 and we were stationed here for 8 years. I have live here for 50 years and I currently work at the Barksdale Global Power Museum. We take great pride in this film being done here. Te actors are Don Porter and Craig Stevens
Patrick W Deck thanks for that information I know I knew him from many a tv show but couldn’t pin it down , I watched another old doc about flying a twin engine plane private plane and I recognize another young actor from way back
25:00 "I didn't think I'd have to demonstrate these procedures so soon" How convenient that they demonstrate emergency procedures in an instructional video lol
+Konstantin Serdyukov Konstantin Serdyukov - And dangerous to inexperienced pilots. Due to its high landing speed, and need to balance the aircraft's fuel internally to prevent destabilisation at higher operating speeds.
My dad had to put one down that he was ferrying, in his flight log book it says "forced crash landing, lost instruments*", note the asterisk. at the bottom of the page it say's "while racing a P-40 to Alamogordo"
As noted below actor Don Porter plays the pilot - doesn’t have this on his IMDB list even though another later AAF training film is there. Porter mostly did TV but also played the opposing Senator to Robert Redford in “The Candidate”.
A B-25 pilot told me these B 26s were a handful to fly and they called it a widow maker. He got shot down in one and picked up by a sub. William Mitchell
@@alteredbeast67 No it wasn't. At the beginning when they were working the bugs out, it was dangerous. With modifications and proper pilot training, it was a fine aircraft.
I feel very confident that I could do absolutely everything he described minus the flight controls. Could you imagine having this information with 26’s sitting around on ramps for sale as surplus?
This video should say it had the lowest COMBAT loss rate. It had the highest rate of loss due to accidents of any US aircraft during WW2. That's why crews called it the "Widowmaker".
Now I know how to Fly a B-26. However You left out the ending.....The Flight Mechanic or Corporal accidentally switched off the fuel pump or did something wrong on that Stabord Engine. After the Cockpit Debrief As The Captain is leaving the Ship he notices the Corporals Mistake then Chews his ass out. I've seen this before Along with the B-17 B-25 B-24 B-29 and P-47. The same Captain or Piolt is in all of those as well. Totally AWESOME!!!
It would be nice if the advertising didn’t pop up until the very end when there is no additional video. We lose a bit of video at the end because of these pop ups. Also it would be nice to see the rest of the film. They certainly shut the aircraft down and debrief and training films aways had some kind of patriotic ending
The B-26 was called the "Widowmaker" before they began using only single guys as crew, then became known as the "Boyfriend Killers". My dad told me this but was known to be a liar.
From what I've read, the B-26 was the only Army Air Corps plane that could carry torpedoes. Four of them were at Midway and launched a torpedo attack against the Japanese carriers, unsuccessfully, possibly the only time the AAC did that.
Charles Inglin The Japanese had a ton of zero fighters flying combat air patrol over their precious carriers at Midway.They shot down alot of our low flying torpedo pla es that morning.Unfortunately for them our high flying Dauntless divebombers were able to score bomb hits on all four Japanese carriers. Exploding fuel lines and ordnance subsequently led to all 4 sinking by the following morning.
Why didn't they just take North American B-25 bombers when problems with the B-26 like crashes when on one engine became apparent? Overall poerformance didn't differ alll that much
The same checklist and manual use of controls would apply to any aircraft flown during the WW2 / Korean War era. Pilots and crew had to be intelligent and KNOW their aircraft, there were no computers to help them!
Everyone in the comments had a grandfather that flew this plane. Considering it was a deathtrap and pilots would rather face a court martial than fly it makes me wonder who is telling the truth and who is just living in a fantasy....
Smokey Stover not exactly. If you look at the history it was a handful if you didn't fly it right on the numbers. The early models did well in the Pacific especially consider they had no fighter cover in the early days. While the plane was getting a bad reputation in America the pilots in the Pacific loved the plane. They redesigned the plane with slightly more wing area and more wing incidence. The training was also refined. The early missions over Europe at low altitude were disastrous . Once the missions were changed to medium altitude the marauder had the lowest loss rate of a medium bomber in the ETO. It was more complicated and more expensive than the B25. Production ended sooner for this reason.
Two things to remember, people who have grandfathers or great grandfathers are more likely to look up and view these old movies. Also, they made 5200+ of these. In some of the logs of these aircraft, there were over 500 different crew members over the short life of the aircraft. It’s hard to fathom today the numbers of aircraft and pilots at that time. Even from the time I was in during the 80’s the military is a fraction of the size especially in aircraft and pilots today. When I first started flying, many of the ww2 pilots were in their 60’s and 70’s. What alway shocked me was the number of aircraft these men flew. One man flew b-17’s, b-29’s, b-36’s b-47’s and b-52’s before retirement!!! Even Jimmy Stewart flew b-24’s, b-36’s, b-47’s and the b-58. That doesn’t count all of the various training aircraft and he was restricted due to his duel careers.
How about Fathers? We heard it direct from them. My wife's Father was an armorer in the Marines and flew on a PBJ and loaded the cannon. My Dad was on a carrier. CVE-1. A small light carrier that transported planes all over the Pacific. They were the first carrier to Guadalcanal. My uncle was a tank crewman in an M-4 Sherman with Patton's Army in North Africa and Italy. You should never question a veterans family. As for me I was 82nd Airborne, Vietnam. Want to question my service?
According to my father, after the necessary modifications where made to the aerodynamic design of the wings and after Dr Jimmy Doolittle taught the young pilots how to fly the thing, the B26 became a very reliable and valuable asset for the air corp. Dad said that once Dr Doolittle showed them how to better control their landings at high speed, how to better execute low high speed bombing maneuvers and finally how to bring a battered airship home he felt more comfortable with the plane. I ask Dad what was the advantage to being a bomber pilot and he said that if he wasn't killed during the day that he slept on clean sheets at night. Also the ladies loved the flyboys he said. I said 'yes of course that makes more sense".
