This is an Army Air Force film from 1944 on how to fly the B-26, back in the days when we had a War Department and not Department of Defense. There’s an old bit about “Kick the tires, light the fires, and go.” The 48 minutes of this film will show you that it’s not that simple. There are a number of similar films like this now available on YouTube. It’s fascinating to watch just to see the old warbirds, but it’s also a look at the serious side of piloting.
The Martin B-26 Marauder early on got a reputation as a widow maker. It was a high-performance aircraft for its day, but it had to be flown by the numbers. Watching the film will give you an appreciation of just how demanding it could be. It’s all scripted. There’s understated drama and humor in this, but the intent is dead serious.
About 35 minutes in, things get really interesting…. They have an in-flight emergency, but you’d never know it from the way the pilots react. Mistakes are made, and the analysis at the end of who is responsible is a lesson for all.
Keep in mind this aircraft was only two years in development before going into service in 1941, they built 5,288 of them — and they were all taken out of service by 1947. There was a war on; they put pilots through training as fast as they could manage, and they were still tweaking the design of the aircraft and the training for it in its early operations. Learning by doing can be unavoidable — but it can also be costly.
One more thing. These guys went to war in airplanes with no weather radar, no GPS, satellite links, or any of the other modern electronics we take for granted. Autopilots — if any — were minimal. The pilot had to look at all the separate instruments all the time, and put the different inputs together in his head to maintain situational awareness of the aircraft’s state while also managing the crew. When they emphasize the importance of the checklist and the other paperwork, they weren’t kidding.
And they had to do all this while other people were getting ready to knock them out of the sky.