BAD NAME
Isn't it odd how products, which are really not unworthy of being marketed, seem to get what we call “a bad name” from the very start? They never seem to get a real chance to redeem themselves, either.
I was pleased recently to see that the B-26 bomber which was made by Martin during World War II in excess of five-thousand and was vilified as “The Flying Coffin”, “The Widow Maker” and other such names, has been found to have been not so bad after all.
In a recent edition of “Ex-CBI Roundup”- a magazine dealing with the various aspects of World War II actions in the oft-ignored China-Burma-India theater of operations - I found some good things about the much maligned plane.
It was dangerous when flying – but more so for the enemy than to the pilots or crew thereof. A study of flight records and historical data concerning the 5,257 B-26 “Mararuders” the Martin Company made during World War II era shows they had a remarkably safe flying record. They were, true enough, more demanding on crew capabilities. They, for instance, had a landing speed of around one hundred thirty miles per hour – a bit too fast some thought for those days - faster than most other bombers – and that meant that an unskilled crew might find it could “get away” from them. Those who liked the plane spoke of it as being:”alert”and those who did not care for it said it was “tricky.” The observation which claimed it could be “too hot to handle” might well have been an apt accusation but it did have advantages such as a bigger bomb load capacity, greater speed and and increased staying power. Records also show that, while the B-26 was built to be safely operated by a crew of seven men. In actual use, however, records indicate it was often flown with a crew of six men – five , at times.
That tendency to fly with short crews could be interpreted as a point in favor of the efficiency of the plane.
We see other products so vilified, too.. Do your remember the “Edsel” - now a collector's item. Scoffers called it the “Horse Collar”, but I knew one Edsel owner who was very pleased with his and kept it for the rest of his life. His widow sold it at a profit and someone has it today and probably brags about it. There are other such examples of worthy products which have been bad mouthed from day one and thus lost forever and excluded from public evaluation.
How many can you think of off-hand?
A.L.M. February 14, 2003 [c448ds]
