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Aviation History
1941
1941 - 1656.PDF
FLIGHT JULY 24TH, 1941. Twenty-ninth of the Series FRIEND or FOE? Two Middle East Rival Bombers : The Maryland and the Breda 88 MARTIN MARYLAND ; Low-w'ng, tapers on both edges tosmall rounded tips. Slight dihedral from roots. Twin radial engines with thrust line through leading-edge Oval sectionfuselage with blunt transparent nose and reduced depth aft of bomb bay but stepped up at the tail. Upper turret amid-ships retractable. Undercarriage retracts into nacelles. Tapered tailplane, fairly large fin and rudder. BREDA 88 : High-wing with slight taper to fairly broadround tips. Small dihedral from roots. Large diameter radial engines in underslung nacelles, into which undercarriagecompletely retracts, extending back to trailing-edge. Short, well streamlined fuselage with slim nose ; gun position aft ofpilot's covered cockpit. Strut-braced tailplane with curved edges carrying twin egg-shaped fins and rudders set inboard. IT was originally intended, as stated at the end of lastweek's article in this series, to compare the Baltimorewith the Maryland in this week's feature. But the Breda 88 has now been chosen instead of the Baltimore(which will be dealt with later) because this machine, which is by way of being the " star turn " of the Regia Aero-nautica, and the approximate Italian counterpart of the Luftwaffe's Ju 88 has several times been mentioned inMiddle East activities, where the Maryland is also in service. These two machines, therefore, may be regarded as imme-diate rivals in that theatre of war at the present time. Incidentally, the numerical similarity between the Breda 88and the Ju 88 is, of course, pure coincidence. A curious state of affairs also exists in relation to the Maryland in theMiddle East. Most of those now serv-ing with the R.A.F. were theresidue of a French contract taken overtoy Great Britain •when our Ally col-lapsed, and so have instrumentsand other fittings marked in French.During the now concluded tussle with the Vichy forces in Syria thetask of British and Free Frenchfighter pilots was complicated by the fact that their Vichy opponents were also using Mary lands (de livered to France before her capitula- tion)—a circum- stance which patently called for extra vigilance on bothsides. The terms of the settlement in Syria, however, now bring all the Maiylands back on the side for whose benefitthey were naturally intended by the American firm of Glenn Martin. British pilots who fly the Maryland have spoken highlyof this aircraft's performance and general behaviour. It cannot be said, however, that it is the most beautiful ofaeroplanes. Yet even its lack of good looks is an advantage to the spotter, for a glance at the side view will show thatthe shape of its fuselage makes it quite easy to recognise. • More than one British design is at least equally distinctivein its unloveliness and equally efficient as a fighting unit. When seen head-on, however, the oval-sectioned fuselage and the unbrokendihedral of its low- wing design givethe Maryland a very clean frontalappearance. The two radial engines,it will be noted, are centred on theleading - edge, a feature which addsto its symmetry from this view. Inplan, the wings taper uniformlyfrom the roots to comparativelysmall round tips. The transparentnose is rather blunt and the topline of the whole fuselagemay be said to rise in three levels, the"steps" being formed by thefront of the pilot's
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