About This File
FS2002/Martin B-26 Marauder as "Marauder" This is a repaint as "Marauder" (nose art). I edited the crew faces (lol) and also changed the passengers a little :)
FULL CREDIT GOES TO THE FOLLOWING PEOPLE:
FSDS Model created by W. E. Stephens and Textures by W. E. Stephens [Wstephens08502@rcn.com]
Panel by Rob Clark [rlclark@ix.netcom.com]
Original aviator figure belong to David Eckert. [www.daviator.com]
David created a wonderful pilot for use in FS Design Studio. This pilot was used to create the crew of the B26B.
"Big Ass Bird" was from the 12th Air Force, 319th Bomb Group (Medium), 440 Bomb Squadron based in Rufisque French West Africa, Tafaraoui, Algeria (outside of Oran), Maison Blanche, Algeria (outside of Algers), Dejedeida, Tunisia (outside of Tunis) and Decimomannu, Sardinia (outside of Cagliari) in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations. She flew 145 missions between June 1943 and November 1944 in North Africa, Italy and southern France and was the fastest plane in the group. Her first crew was led by Lt. T. C. Rammelkamp but was flown by other crews including Lt. Lawrence E. Stephens. She was shot up badly on her 55th mission and again on her 59th, but remained a lucky ship. Her crew chief was J. Wesley Johnston for her first 120 missions.
This aircraft is a memorial to my father Col. Lawrence E. Stephens, USAF, ret. who served his country for 30 years and passed away on June 26, 2000. After WWII he was assigned to the USAF Strategic Air Command in Omaha, NE. In the course of this military career, he was the Base Commander at Glasgow AFB, Glasgow, Montana and the Wing Commander at Anderson AFB on Guam. He retired in 1970 from March ARB, in Riverside, CA.
The B-26C-15 was built in Omaha, Nebraska in 1941.
By Georgette Kostopoulos