Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/04/18

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Trivia question...
From: Mark Cohen <markc@binaryfaith.com>
Date: Thu, 18 Apr 2002 17:30:59 -0700 (PDT)

What this has to do with Leicas I don't know, but a little research on the
web yielded this :

The B-26 Martin Marauder was called among other epithets, "The Flying
Coffin", "The Flying Cigar", "The Flying Buzz Bomb", "The Widow Maker",
"The Murdering Marauder", "Martin's Murderer", "Martin's Miss Carriage,"
and because it had only a short, stubby 65-foot wingspan, "The Flying
Prostitute" with no visible means of support. This sobriquet originated in
Congressional comments in a special report of the Senate Special Committee
to Investigate the National Defense Program Part 10, 7/12/43, on page 349
which states, "The B-26 Martin Marauder had no visible means of support-A
Flying Prostitute."

The B-26 Marauder was a twin-engined medium bomber with a streamlined
fuselage of circular cross-section and a relatively small shoulder wing.
It was difficult to handle, because of its high wing loading, but it also
gave high performance. It started life with high accident rates due to
it's high technical demands placed on the pilots. It was known to be a
"hot" aircraft with a relatively fast landing speed around 152 mph. If an
inexperienced pilot, and most trainees were, brought it in too slow it
would stall and spin with little room to recover. With proper pilot
training it later proved to be a safe and effective aircraft. Many crews
grew to appreciate it's agility and strong defensive armament. With the
B-25 Mitchell it formed the US medium bomber forces in WWII. These flew
mainly daylight raids, called Ramrods, against such targets as railroad
stations, coastal gun batteries, important factories, and bridges. There
were 4863 built.




On Thu, 18 Apr 2002, Photo Phreak wrote:

>
>     Do we have any aviation buffs here?
>
> The bumblebee comments have prompted this.
>
> During the early days of WW2, the Martin B26 Marauder was
> sometimes compared with a bumblebee.  It was also called
> "The Flying Prostitute"
>
> Who knows the origins or rational for that nickname?
>
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