Martin-Baker MB 1
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| MB 1 | |
|---|---|
 Martin-Baker MB1 during testing |
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| Type | Light aircraft |
| Manufacturer | Martin-Baker |
| Designed by | James Martin |
| Maiden flight | April 1935 |
| Status | Experimental |
| Number built | 1 |
The Martin-Baker MB1 was a British first low-wing monoplane, the first design of the Martin-Baker company to be built. Later designs from the company would be heavily influenced by this early design.
[edit] Design and development
In the early 1930s, James Martin had initially conceived an unconventional side-by-side, two-place, low-wing monoplane design powered by a de Havilland Gipsy engine, mounted in the fuselage behind the seats, driving a fixed-pitch propeller through a shaft running horizontally between the pilot and passenger. Unfortunately, the project was abandoned due to financial constraints, even though the fuselage and engine installation were already completed. Martin-Baker did construct an autogyro design by Mr. Raoul Haffner, which was later tested by Captain Valentine Baker at Heston.
With financial aid from a business friend with an interest in aviation, Martin turned to the design and manufacture of a small, two-seater touring aircraft to exploit a simple but highly ingenious method of construction, using round-section thin-gauge steel tubing throughout the structure and a fabric covering. The fuselage strut ends were flattened brazed, and drilled holes picked up on bolts supported in the steel longeron tubes. Machined, flanged steel sleeves, fitted on the longerons at focal joints, provided a means of attachment of fuselage struts by holes drilled around their periphery, the whole being faired by light metal hoops of near-oval shape. The wing with a Clark Y airfoil was built around a pyramidal spar consisting of three large-diameter but thin-gauge booms, braced by smaller tubes and converging towards one another at the wing tip. The wing struts and ribs, and also the tail unit components, were fastened to the spars in a similar way to the fuselage construction.
For economy of storage space, the wings were designed to fold rearwards. Wing folding was a one-person operation, the front pin being on a screw operated by a handle, while the rear hinge was designed to prevent the wing falling backwards into the fuselage when the front pin was released. Long triangular welded-aluminium fuel tanks, designed to be quickly detachable, were carried in the centre of each wing spar.
This machine became the MB1 and was powered by a neatly cowled 6-cylinder inline 160 hp Napier Javelin engine, flexibly installed in a tubular mounting with all parts accessible for easy servicing, electrically started and driving a fixed-pitch wooden propeller. A sturdy, yet light and simple, tubular-construction undercarriage carried low-pressure tyres and employed shock-absorber struts.
Although the main interest of this aircraft was in its simple design, much forethought was given to its cockpit layout and general facilities. A contemporary aeronautical journal reported, "The seats are comfortable and the cockpit is totally enclosed with an oval transparent hood. The windscreen is a sharp vee, with vertical front panes, which should not collect fine rain or snow and should obviate any reflection from internal or external lighting."
[edit] Testing and evaluation
Aerodynamically a straightforward design, when flight tested in April 1935, the MB1 reached a top speed of 125 mph and was found to possess pleasant flight characteristics which later became a hallmark of the Martin-Baker company designs. Although the MB1 did not go beyond the prototype stage, many valuable lessons learned during its design, construction and testing were to be used in the production of the company's next design, the MB2.
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