The whole Cuban B-26 Cuban gold thing is funny in a pathetic sort of way. They needed to consult with some one familiar with aviation history.
The B-26 Maurauder was built by Martin early in WWII and was a very advanced aircraft for it's time, particularly the early short winged models. Due to its Baltimore located Martin Aircraft heritage and comparatively small wing (ie: no visible means of support) and resulting high takeoff and landing speeds it was called the "Baltimore W***e", a nicely rhyming nickname that stuck. It was however, once its pilots were properly trained to fly it, the most effective bomber in the US inventory during WWII with the lowest loss rate of any heavy or medium bomber. If you knew how to fly it, it took care of its crews.
The other reality of WWII is that all nations lost more combat aircraft in training accidents than they lost in combat. When you take 18 to 25 year old men and given them minimal training in very high performance aircraft, accidents happen. Saying the aircraft had serious design flaws is not exaclty accurate in the context of the times.
Now the pathetically funny part...
In 1945 the Douglas A-26B Invader entered service. It was a medium bomber sized attack aircraft with a smaller crew and a different layout primarily devoted to lower level ground attack missions, although a few glas nosed A-26C's were also made to allow formation bombing from medium altitudes like the B-26 Maurader medium bomber. The A-26 was very fast, very maneuverable and a very different aircraft.
However in 1948 the designations got confusing The B-26 Marauders were removed from servcie in 1945. Depsite their combat record they still had a bad reputation compared to the very easy to fly B-25, so they were not retained for post war roles as trainers, VIP transports and Liaison aircraft as was the case with the lower performance B-25. The A-26 however was still cutting edge and remainined in US service until 1972 and saw combat in Korean as well as in Vietnam until 1969 in its upgraded A-26K form. The confusion occurred in 1948 when the A-26 was redesignated the B-26. And to make it even more confusing, later when deployed to south east asia in the early 1960's the updated B-26K was redesignated the A-26K as the politics of the time would not allow bombers to be stationed in Thailand, but attack aircraft were acceptable.
The moral here is that it was surplus US Douglas A-26 Invaders (called B-26's at the time) that ultimately found their way into Cuban service in the 1950's and 1960's, not the Martin B-26 Maurauder.
The Marauder and Invader used the same basic Pratt and Whitney R-2800 engine, but the Maurauder used a 4 bladed Curtis electric prop and the Invader used a 3 bladed Hamilton Standard prop so the difference in propellers is a dead give away even if you only have an engine and a propeller hub to examine. The upper turrets are also distinctly different as the A-26 Invader turret is a small dome shaped metal covered affair that is remotely operated while the B-26 Maurader turret is a larger, taller plexiglass affair with the gunner in side it. The short story is that if it was an aircraft with a 4 bladed prop and R-2800 engines, it was a Martin B-26 and would never have had Cuban gold on board since the Cuban's never used the Martin B-26. In short, you have to go out of your way to do bad research and try hard to remain comparatively ignorant about WWII aircraft to mistake one for the other.
Also, 3 billion in gold would weigh 312,500 pounds at $800 per oz. and the useful load of either the A-26 or B-26 would have been about 6,000 lbs but still no where near the required specification). 30 million in gold would be do-able but not 3 billion.
But I suspect the person finding the B-26 was not stupid and knew all that - after all he knew enough to know it was a "B-26". I suspect he instead used the A-26/B-26 confusion and the Cuban gold myth to generate investor interest and generate a little income from the greedy.
Its nice that the wreck was found and some closure can be given to the relatives, but that could have happened years earlier when more of them were still alive.
