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B-26G vs B-26B wing incidence angle


Nachtwulf

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I seem to recall that the B-26G had the wing incident angle changed by 3 degrees to help with landing attitude.

My question is this:

Where was the center of rotation for changing the angle? In my way of thinking there could be four points that the change could be made from.
Leading edge ( least likely since photos would seem to indicate a different location where it meets the fuselage between the two models)
Front wing spar ( most likely in my mind )
rear wing spar  or
trailing edge

I ask because I am formulating a plan to alter a monogram kit to a B-26G but the location of the pivot point potentially will make a huge difference in approaching the changes necessary .

So does anyone have any input on where the pivot point should be?

 

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Have no experience with the real thing, but Hasegawa 1/72 kits have the same wing/engines/detail sprues and different fuselages for the (long-span/high tail) B-26B/C and F/G.

Having both of them in boxes few years ago I remember they've used wing TRAILING edge as the pivot point. But of course both the Japs and I can be wrong :)

https://www.mojehobby.pl/products/B-26B-C-Marauder.html#gallery_start

https://www.mojehobby.pl/products/B-26F-G-Marauder.html#gallery_start

Cheers

Michael

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Looking in my William Wolf book, Martin B-26 Marauder: The Ultimate Look, I found the following description of the "twisted wing" Marauders:

" The last B-26B-40MA produced (42-43459)  was used to test a major change : a 3.5 degree increase to total of  7.0 degrees  in wing incidence, which was achieved experimentally by the use of a fuselage section adaptor." The new wing shortened the takeoff run, gave a more level flight attitude, and provided more ground clearance for the props. Martin requested the authority to make this change on all subsequent production line aircraft as well as to provide modification kits to allow the change to be made in the field, but the USAF forbid this on the grounds that it would interfere with assembly line production, and that production of field modification kits was not feasible. Martin  proceeded to install the wing modification on all forthcoming B-26's at no cost to the government, and  Washington grudgingly gave retroactive approval for the factory change, as tests had revealed how much better the B-26 flew with the new wing, which was installed on all B-26F/G production airplanes.

 

(As an aside, Glenn Martin  had a very adversarial relationship with the government purchasing/procurement offices, as his ideas and designs did not fall in line many times with the "thinkers" in those department,s and he was considered to be a "pain in the a--s" to deal with.) His ideas were proven to be sound and the quality of workmanship and final finish on the B-26 and the Martin-built B-29's was outstanding- one reason why the Silverplate B-29's used by the 509th Composite Group were all Martin-built Superforts.

 

The midsection of the B-26 was built integrally with the center/inner  wing section on all versions, so I imagine a new center section with the increased incidence built in was how the change was incorporated. I'm guessing the field modification proposed by Martin was a new center section to replace the existing one. This was very similar to B-29A's which used this same type of construction to simplify production, and why the wingspan of the B-29A was a little longer than previous versions. Not being able to do a field mod on their B-26B kit, Hasegawa had to mold new fuselages with the increased incidence- probably just as well, as the later versions had a different tail turret than the earlier ones. Hope this helps!

Mike

 

https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/196275/martin-b-26g-marauder/

 

 

Edited by 72modeler
corrected spelling
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The trailing edge is the pivot point. Here are a few pictures of the B-26G that was restored by the Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace at Le Bourget airport in the late 90s, which shows how the modification was made by Martin.

 

wecPQs8.jpg

 

pWY6uyt.jpg

 

RGy4HYl.jpg

 

Small metal fairings were used to fill the gap.

 

HTH,

 

Laurent

Edited by silberpferd
missing word
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1 hour ago, silberpferd said:

The trailing edge is the pivot point. Here are a few pictures of the B-26G that was restored by the Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace at Le Bourget airport in the late 90s, which shows how the modification was made by Martin.

 

wecPQs8.jpg

 

pWY6uyt.jpg

 

RGy4HYl.jpg

 

Small metal fairings were used to fill the gap.

 

HTH,

 

Laurent

Wow! How on earth did you get the chance to take these awesome photos?

Mike

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On 3/30/2019 at 11:42 AM, silberpferd said:

The trailing edge is the pivot point. Here are a few pictures of the B-26G that was restored by the Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace at Le Bourget airport in the late 90s, which shows how the modification was made by Martin.

 

wecPQs8.jpg

 

pWY6uyt.jpg

 

RGy4HYl.jpg

 

Small metal fairings were used to fill the gap.

 

HTH,

 

Laurent

That is a tremendous help! Thank you!

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