RE: Bates B-26 Marauder
It sounds like the one plane you witnessed the destruction of wasn't going to make it no matter the airfoil! I trust in Jerry's plans. The airfoil is a good 4 inches thick at the root or something close to that. The real plane was a bear for a number of reasons. The wing loading was high, improper ground maintenance training, and inexperienced pilots and crew. I'm sure there were other variables but those are the most often noted.
Two things that again I must mention are the wing isn't as small as you may think. the -A models had the short wing. The -B's were lengthened along with an increase in overall size of the vertical tail surface. This WOULD have been the fix needed but the Army decided to up the gross weight by increasing the defensive armament, adding the 4 gun packs and increasing the bomb loads to upwards of 5,000 pounds depending on the mission. This even though the rear bomb bay was usually used for more fuel capacity. So, instead of decreasing the wing loading, they actually INCREASED the loading despite the added lifting surface. Of course, with fuel, bomb load, and defensive munitions expended the plane would be much more "user friendly" at the most critical time, landing.
THAT BEING SAID, I've yet to hear from anyone who has actually built, and or flown, this particular model. I don't think you can compare the flight characteristics to those mentioned above. That was just plain crazy!
The "one a day in Tampa Bay" came from maintenance crews running the batteries down inadvertantly while performing maintenance. Then, at full power on take off, the batteries would die and the props would immediately feather leaving the pilot and crew staring at the bay with two screaming engines and no power. The result was an order that all maintenance be performed with the use of the electrical generator cart. Yet another one of the black eyes the Marauder was given thru no fault of its own.
Mark