edwarda10pilot
Posts: 99
Joined: 3/8/2002
From: Universal City,
TX, USA
Status: offline
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Cessna26:
I have a couple of friends that have both built the Bates B-26 (about 106" span). I dont recall the exact weights but they are in the high 20 or low 30 lb. range. They have Glennis wheels and brakes and G-38's for power. In talking to them it seems that they really enjoy fling the models but the landing approach appears to be very much like the full scale (ie steep and fast). The models seem to be on rails but appear to be quite a challenge shoudl you have any engine problems. If you are interested in contacting them, send me a PM and I will provide e-mail addresses.
Bill:
One of my uncles (on my dad's side of the family) flew the B-26 C in WW II. One of my cousins got to read a lot of his letters he sent to his family while he was in training and after he went overseas. He entered pilot training in Feb 1942 and graduated in late Sept. 1942 and got checked out in the B-26C on Oct 9, 1943. At the time he graduated from flight school he had a total of 214 hours (60 hrs in the PT 17 (soloed after 8.4hours of dual), 79 hrs in the BT-13, 75 hrs split between the AT-10 and the AT-17 (bamboo bomber). Time in the B-26 was: 142 hrs as co-pilot, 138 hrs as pilot in command and 47 hrs in the Link trainer. Of the B-26 time he had 68 hrs of night flight and 42 hours instrument training. He departed the US for Europe in April 1943. He flew his first combat mission in July 1943 and was flying his 37 th mission on Jan. 21, 1944 when he was lost over Orvieto Italy. They launched 18 B-26's and of these they lost four and 11 others sustained moderate to severe damage. My uncle was the flight leader for the first flight and was flying the right wing for the group leader. When the group leader sustained major flack damage and began to descend to the left, my uncle was in the process of moving into the lead position as the group leader when the plane sustained a direct hit (flack) on the #1 engine. This hit apparently killed my uncle (pilot), the navigator, co-pilot, bombadier and the engineer and only two of the crew escaped (the tail gunner and the waist gunner). Just thought some of you might find this accont of interest. My uncle always told his sisters that if he didn't come back, he died doing what he loved, flying.
Because my uncle flew the B-26, I am kind of partial to the plane. I have a set of Bates plans and my plan is to build it and paint like my uncle's.
Ed
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