In melee arena you need 3 Fw190a8 to kill one B26 and expect to lose all 3.
No escorts needed, they both turn better and outclimbs you at 26k 
In scenarios, 190A-8's and 109G's do just fine. Many examples are given below. Maybe it is that 999000 isn't the typical gunner in scenarios, who knows.
Also:

Examples from Anzio:
Clu
14:57:19 Departed from Field #91 in a Fw 190A-5
15:22:00 Helps FLOOB shoot down Ozone. <-- B-26
15:22:13 Helps FLOOB shoot down Ozone.<-- B-26
15:23:15 Helps Ditto shoot down Ozone.<-- B-26
15:25:34 Shot down a B-26B flown by Flossy.<-- B-26
15:26:19 Arrived Safely at Field #95
16:03:15 Departed from Field #91 in a Fw 190A-5
16:11:34 Shot down a B-26B flown by swoose.<-- B-26
16:12:07 Shot down a B-26B flown by swoose.<-- B-26
16:12:34 Shot down a B-26B flown by Ozone.<-- B-26
FLOOB
14:30:55 Departed from Field #91 in a Fw 190A-5
14:46:44 Helps Atrack shoot down APDrone.<-- B-26
14:47:14 Helps JoeJoe shoot down Flossy.<-- B-26
14:56:31 Arrived Safely at Field #90
14:57:18 Departed from Field #91 in a Fw 190A-5
15:16:26 Helps SNO shoot down APDrone.<-- B-26
15:16:51 Helps perdweeb shoot down swoose.<-- B-26
15:22:00 Shot down a B-26B flown by Ozone.<-- B-26
15:22:13 Shot down a B-26B flown by Ozone.<-- B-26
16:41:38 Departed from Field #91 in a Fw 190A-5
17:18:54 Helps KoW shoot down Joker.<-- B-26
17:19:10 Helps Snibbo shoot down OOZ662.<-- B-26
17:20:09 Shot down a B-26B flown by Ozone.<-- B-26
17:21:56 Shot down a B-26B flown by Ozone.<-- B-26
KoW
14:30:54 Departed from Field #91 in a Fw 190A-5
14:50:51 Helps perdweeb shoot down APDrone. <-- B-26
14:55:13 Arrived Safely at Field #89
14:57:16 Departed from Field #91 in a Fw 190A-5
15:17:23 Shot down a B-26B flown by OOZ662.<-- B-26
15:17:33 Shot down a B-26B flown by OOZ662.<-- B-26
15:22:00 Helps FLOOB shoot down Ozone.<-- B-26
15:23:07 Was shot down by APDrone (exploded).
16:04:29 Departed from Field #91 in a Fw 190A-5
16:12:13 Shot down a B-26B flown by APDrone.<-- B-26
16:14:00 Helps SNO shoot down APDrone.<-- B-26
16:15:13 Was shot down by ULTactus (crashed).
16:44:22 Departed from Field #91 in a Fw 190A-5
17:18:54 Shot down a B-26B flown by Joker. <-- B-26
Dantoo
14:31:20 Departed from Field #91 in a Bf 109G-6
14:46:27 Shot down a B-26B flown by Ozone.<-- B-26
14:46:27 Shot down a B-26B flown by Flossy.<-- B-26
14:46:30 Shot down a B-26B flown by swoose.<-- B-26
14:46:44 Helps Atrack shoot down APDrone.<-- B-26
14:50:51 Helps perdweeb shoot down APDrone.<-- B-26
14:54:30 Arrived Safely at Field #90
Examples from Pantelleria:
DaddyAce
15:53:17 Departed from Field #26 in a Bf 109G-2
16:13:27 Shot down a B-26B flown by Popsman.<-- B-26
16:13:59 Shot down a B-26B flown by Popsman.<-- B-26
16:14:49 Shot down a B-26B flown by Popsman.<-- B-26
16:16:43 Was shot down by bgoldy (exploded).
Roodalf
14:42:09 Departed from Field #29 in a Fw 190A-5
15:03:56 Shot down a B-26B flown by Popsman.<-- B-26
15:04:40 Helps DRAGUN shoot down killyjim.<-- B-26
15:04:43 Helps perdweeb shoot down Popsman.<-- B-26
15:07:52 Shot down a B-26B flown by tudza.<-- B-26
15:08:00 Shot down a B-26B flown by tudza.<-- B-26
15:08:01 Awarded kill as Popsman crashes in a Gunner-Observer.
15:08:52 Bravely Bailed from damaged plane.
CANUKK
14:35:57 Departed from Field #29 in a Fw 190A-5
15:05:43 Shot down a B-26B flown by Fang.<-- B-26
15:05:59 Shot down a B-26B flown by Fang.<-- B-26
15:06:46 Shot down a B-26B flown by Fang.<-- B-26
15:06:48 Awarded kill as killyjim crashes in a Gunner-Observer.
15:08:54 Bravely Bailed from damaged plane.
DRAGUN
14:35:51 Departed from Field #29 in a Fw 190A-5
15:04:40 Shot down a B-26B flown by killyjim.<-- B-26
15:04:59 Shot down a B-26B flown by Brooke.<-- B-26
15:07:52 Helps Roodalf shoot down tudza.<-- B-26
15:08:00 Helps Roodalf shoot down tudza.<-- B-26
15:19:21 Arrived Safely at Field #28
Examples from Hinterland
Camo
14:04:56 Departed from Field #116 in a Bf 109G-14
14:19:54 Helps Smurqula shoot down tudza.<-- B-26
14:20:11 Shot down a B-26B flown by HB555.<-- B-26
14:20:22 Shot down a B-26B flown by tudza.<-- B-26
14:20:43 Shot down a B-26B flown by tudza.<-- B-26
14:20:59 Shot down a B-26B flown by HB555.<-- B-26
14:21:04 Was shot down by HB555 (exploded).
Frantico
13:25:20 Departed from Field #116 in a Bf 109G-14
13:47:43 Helps Teufel01 shoot down tudza.<-- B-26
13:50:05 Helps kenzu111 shoot down HB555.<-- B-26
13:51:34 Shot down a B-26B flown by Mato.<-- B-26
13:52:13 Shot down a B-26B flown by Mato.<-- B-26
13:54:58 Arrived Safely at Field #121
JanneK
13:24:50 Departed from Field #116 in a Bf 109G-14
13:46:01 Shot down a B-26B flown by swoose.<-- B-26
13:46:39 Helps kiaku shoot down swoose.<-- B-26
13:47:51 Helps Jarski shoot down tudza.<-- B-26
13:50:23 Shot down a B-26B flown by HB555.<-- B-26
13:52:08 Arrived Safely at Field #121
14:09:37 Departed from Field #116 in a Bf 109G-14
14:21:41 Shot down a B-26B flown by HB555.<-- B-26
14:22:24 Helps Tikto shoot down swoose.<-- B-26
14:25:55 Arrived Safely at Field #117
14:34:57 Departed from Field #117 in a Bf 109G-14
14:52:43 Awarded kill as Joker crashes in a B-26B.<-- B-26
14:52:44 Awarded kill as Joker crashes in a B-26B.<-- B-26
14:53:02 Shot down a B-26B flown by Joker.<-- B-26
14:55:58 Skillfully ditched.
Attacking B-26's at 14k is significantly easier than attacking B-17's at 24k, yet no one complains about B-17's at 24k.