The first plane to be called “Widowmaker” was the B-26 Marauder from WW II. The wings were short and tail small for speed. They added both longer wings and larger tail to improve the safety and were very successful. My dad was with them in France in 1944-45. The most amazing part was the seaman jump During my aviation career, in the Navy (ABH) and after, I saw 7 ejections in person. Way too many: 3 F-14 pilots, 1 T-2 pilot and 3 T-45 pilots. There was also an AME who ejected himself into the rafters of the hangar in Va Bch. I saw the after effects of that one and it was heartbreaking.ing over the broken arresting cable. It would have cut him in half otherwise..
