Took a couple of hops in the 26 this weekend. I find it to be fast and maneuverable; a nice addition. Not too worried about the full frontal attacks. A little work with the rudder and some spray and pray from the quad 50's will discourage that sort of stuff.
Much more vulnerable from the oblique 20-40 degrees angle off nose attack IMHO. No coverage there (top turret doesn't depress for toejam) and a big fat sight picture.
Definitely the thing for low-level attacks.
One question though: on final approach for landing I dropped gear at 175 mph or so and they were creaking and stressing to beat the band. Even once I had slowed to 150-145 mph they were still giving the stress sounds. I thought that the correct landing speed for the B-26 was in the 140-150 range. Did not try another go around to slow down and check stall characteristics at a slower approach speed.
If this is correct, then the gear stress settings on the B-26 need to be corrected as there is no room for error. Just a tad too hot and the gear come off. Slow enough to get rid of the gear stress and you auger in. Oh well, the beast had a bad rep anyway.
Can anyone confirm the low-speed stall characteristics? It should start mushing out about 135 mph with full flaps at 1000 feet.
Yeah, I know. It's beta.
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-cman-
The Dweebs of Death
"Death before dishonor,
often just moments
before."
