Martin-Baker MB 3
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| MB 3 | |
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| Type | Fighter |
| Manufacturer | Martin-Baker |
| Designed by | James Martin |
| Maiden flight | 31 August 1942 |
| Status | Experimental |
| Primary user | Royal Air Force (intended) |
| Number built | 1 |
| Developed from | Martin-Baker MB1 Martin-Baker MB2 |
| Variants | Martin-Baker MB5 |
The Martin-Baker MB3 was a British fighter project with six 20mm cannon. The fatal crash of the prototype led to the program's cancellation.
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[edit] Design and development
Using lessons learned from the previous MB1 and MB2, James Martin and Captain Valentine Baker capitalized on the design and construction to develop a new design, the MB3, which was powered by a 2,000 hp Napier Sabre 24-cylinder, H-type engine, driving a de Havilland variable-pitch three-blade propeller.
The MB3 was projected to meet an Air Ministry fighter specification. Armed with six 20-mm cannon mounted in the wings, each with 200 rounds of ammunition, which made it the most heavily armed fighter in existence at the time. In an effort to ensure the armament installation was easily accessible from an operational point of view, the MB3 was capable of a quick turnaround.
While retaining the essential characteristics of the earlier designs, MB3 included many new features: the fuselage primary structure was still the round steel tube arrangement, but metal panels had taken the place of wood and fabric of earlier models. The wing construction integrated torsion-box construction and a laminated steel spar, giving a strong and stiff structure with minimum flexing.
The careful attention to detail extended to a Martin designed pneumatically controlled undercarriage that was simple, sturdy, effective and reliable. With the wing flaps also pneumatically operated, the need for hydraulics, with all their attendant operational hazards and maintenance problems, was eliminated. Underwing radiators had the coolant radiator on the starboard and the oil-cooler on the port side.
[edit] Testing and evaluation
Following its successful first flight undertaken by Capt. Baker, the next series of test flights revealed the MB3 to be highly manoeuvrable and easy to fly. However, on 12 September 1942, the engine failed soon after takeoff and Captain Baker, in an attempt to save the aircraft while executing a difficult forced landing, crashed in a field and was killed.
Despite the loss of the sole prototype, the MB3 design was not abandoned and Martin decided to design the MB4, powered by a Griffon engine. This project was eventually dropped in favour of an entirely new design, which became the MB5.
[edit] Legacy
The MB3 design could have been developed into a good fighter aircraft. Martin felt the personal loss of his best friend and partner and "many consider that it was this painful tragedy that really fired the passionate interest in the safety of aircrews, which was later to become the very pivot of his life." [1] He devoted the remainder of his life to the invention and development of the successful Martin-Baker ejection seats (the company retained the name Martin-Baker as a tribute to their lost co-founder).
[edit] Specifications (MB3)
Data from Jane’s Fighting Aircraft of World War II[2] and British Aircraft of World War II[1]
General characteristics
- Crew: one
- Length: 35 ft 4 in (10.77 m)
- Wingspan: 35 ft 0 in (10.7 m)
- Height: 15 ft 0 in (4.5 m)
- Wing area: 262 ft² (24.3 m²)
- Empty weight: 9,233 lb (4,188 kg)
- Loaded weight: 11,497 lb (5,216 kg)
- Max takeoff weight: 12,090 lb (5,484 kg)
- Powerplant: 1× Napier Sabre 24-cylinder, H-type engine liquid-cooled engine, 2,000 hp (1,745 kW)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 415 mph at 20,000 ft (668 km/h at 6,100 m)
- Range: 1,100 mi (1,770 km)
- Service ceiling 40,000 ft (12,190 m)
- Rate of climb: 3,800 ft/min (19.3 m/s)
Armament
- 6× 20 mm Hispano Mk.II cannon
[edit] See also
Related development
Comparable aircraft
[edit] References
[edit] Notes
[edit] Bibliography
- Bowyer, Michael J.F. Interceptor Fighters for the Royal Air Force 1935-45. Wellingborough, UK: Patrick Stephens Ltd., 1984. ISBN 0-85059-726-9.
- British Aircraft of World War II: M.B.3. Retrieved: 8 June 2007.
- Green, William. War Planes of the Second World War: Fighters, Volume Two. London, Macdonald & Co. (Publishers) Ltd., 1961.
- Green, William and Swanborough, Gordon. WW2 Fact Files: RAF Fighters, Part 2. London: Macdonald and Jane's Publishers Ltd., 1979. ISBN 0-354-01234-7.
- Jane, Fred T. “The Martin-Baker F.18/39.” Jane’s Fighting Aircraft of World War II. London: Studio, 1946. ISBN 1-85170-493-0.
[edit] External links
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