The Glenn L. Martin company is main a former US-American airplane manufacturer, that produced until 1960 over 80 different models in 11.000 copies, bombers and Flugboote.

History

Beginnings

The firm founder Glenn Luther Martin (1886-1955) designed his first airplane 1908 as a car dealer with his mechanics in Santa Ana, California. 1909 it flew for the first time and on 16 August 1912 created Martin the Glenn L. Martin aircraft company to Santa Ana with 14 persons employed.

First own Serienmaschine was the Martin T, a viersitziger double-decker, which was six times built 1913. From this time on most airplanes went to the US army, whose still recent Air Force unit used different Martin models in the First World War, among them a training flight witness (TA, TT) and reconnaissance planes (S, R).

In September 1916 Martin accepted a fusion offer of the WRIGHTs company, whereby the WRIGHT Martin aircraft company developed. The connection held however only one year, already on 10 September 1917 made itself Martin again as Glenn L. for Martin company independent, this mark in Cleveland, Ohio.

First successes

First large success came for Martin 1918 with the draft of the MB-1, a double-decker bomber for the US army, which however for an employment in the First World War came too late and one built therefore only twenty times as planned hundredfold. MB-2 it was starting from 1920 like that convincing the improved successor that the army ordered further 110 after the first 20 machines - however three competitive companies finally received order for production, because they had submitted attractive offers.

In April 1922 the US Navy Ganzmetall Eindecker ordered as observation airplanes (MO-1), which Martin developed with the help of German engineer George Madelung. Madelung had before for Junkers worked and in such a way received the 36 built MO-1 some constructional elements of the Junkers J4 to J10.

The naval reconnaissance aircraft developed by Curtiss and - bomber CS-1 produced Martin starting from 1924 as SC-1 and its successors SC-2, T3M and T4M in over 300 copies, which was felt as successful compensation for the four years before escaped MB-2-Produktion.

Martin bomber and Flugboote

1928 sold the work to Martin in Cleveland at Detroit aircraft and established a new in Middle River, north of Baltimore, Maryland, which was opened on 7 October 1929. During the 1930er the enterprise of Flugboote for US Navy placed years ago (PM), which progressive B-10-Bomber for US Army air Forces and China tie-clip by flight boat, with which Pan American World Airways flew the route San Francisco - Manila - Hong Kong.

At present the Second World War were particularly the bomber B-26 Marauder and the Flugboot PBM of marine ones used for the distress rescue and anti-submarine warfare successful models. The enormous JRM Mars came to the supply of the troops in the Pacific to the employment. Because of the high need of Boeing B-29-Bombern also Martin was consulted for production. 531 altogether over 3.900 built B-29 came from here, among them also the two machines, which finally threw 1945 atom bombs off over Japan in August, Enola Gay and Bockscar.

To the war the bombers XB-48 and XB-51 did not come beyond the test stage, it followed starting from 1951 the production of the British English Electric of developed bomber and reconnaissance aircraft B-57 Canberra under license for the US Air Force as well as the twin-engine passenger airline of the Martin 4-O-4.

Fusion

1961 united the Glenn L. to Martin company with the American Marietta corporation to the Martin Marietta corporation, which fused again 1995 with the Lockheed corporation and so formed Lockheed Martin.

Martin busy some engineers, who created their own airplane company later, among them William E. Boeing, Donald Douglas, Lawrence D. Bell and James S. McDonnell. Other prominent coworkers were James Howard Kindelberger (late North American aviation) and Charles A. Van Dusen (Brewster Aeronautical corporation).

Related links

• Martin aviation museum

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