Martin B-26 Marauder

The B-26 began flying combat missions in the Southwest Pacific in the spring of 1942, but most were subsequently assigned to Europe and the Mediterranean. In 1945, when B-26 production was halted, 5,266 had been built.

• The NASM B-26B-25-MA nicknamed "Flak-Bait" (AAF serial number 41-31773) survived 207 operational missions over Europe, more than any other American aircraft during World War II. Workers at the Baltimore factory completed "Flak-Bait" in April 1943, and a crew flew it to England. The AAF assigned it to the 449th Bombardment Squadron, 322nd Bombardment Group (nicknamed the 'Annihilators'), and gave the bomber the fuselage identification codes "PN-O." Lt. James J. Farrell of Greenwich, Connecticut, flew more missions in "Flak-Bait" than any other pilot. He named the bomber after "Flea Bait," his brother's nickname for the family dog. Because it has a special history, General Henry H. "Hap" Arnold selected "Flak-Bait" to include in a collection of World War II aircraft from different countries that the general set aside for the National Aeronautical Collection. The Air Force transferred the bomber to the National Air Museum in May 1949 but it was not moved to the suburbs of Washington, D. C., until 1960. More than a thousand patched flak holes bear witness to the fact that this famous Marauder was indeed appropriately named.
  
• The Marauder on display in the USAF Museum (Dayton) was flown in combat by the Free French during the final months of WWII. It was obtained from the Air France airline's training school near Paris in June 1965. It is painted as a 9th Air Force B-26B assigned to the 387th Bomb Group in 1945.