Glenn Luther Martin (January 17, 1886 - December 5, 1955) was an American aviation pioneer.
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Glenn L. Martin was born in Macksburg, Iowa, on January 17, 1886. At the age of two, Martin's family moved to Salina, Kansas, so that his father could run a wheat farm. By age six, he became interested in kites, but at first his friends made fun of box-kites he built. When the kites flew well, people paid him twenty-five cents to build one for them. He turned his mother's kitchen into a "factory" to produce more kites. Martin also began using sails on everything from ice skates to wagons, and even his bicycle to move faster with less effort. [1]
As he grew up, he became fascinated with the Wright brothers' airplane. In 1909 he decided to build one himself based on the Curtiss June Bug[2], but it was destroyed on the first test flight. For his next effort, Martin used silk and bamboo in the aircraft's construction. This airplane made a short flight. Martin was often assisted by his mother Minta Martin in the building of his first few airplanes.
On May 10th 1912, Martin flew a self-built seaplane from Newport Bay, CA to Avalon on Catalina Island, then back across the channel. This broke the earlier English Channel record for over water flight. Martin's total distance was 68 miles with the Newport-Avalon leg taking 37 minutes[3]. He picked up a bag of mail on the island on the way, and was presented with $100 prize for his achievement. In 1913, Martin was not as fortunate while competing in the Great Lakes Reliability Cruise, a 900 mile race of seaplanes around the Great lakes. Martin's pontoon hit a wave at high speed and low altitude, causing the plane to sommersault, and sink to the bottom with Martin, who escaped and attempted to salvage the plane to finish the race.[4]
In 1912 Glenn L. Martin built an airplane factory in an old Methodist church in Los Angeles, California. To make money to finance this business, he began to stunt fly at fairs and local airfields. He saw an advertisement for a pilot/airplane owner to play a role in a movie. Sensing an opportunity to market his airplanes, he replied to the ad and got the part. He was to play the role of a dashing hero in the movie A Girl of Yesterday (1915) starring Mary Pickford. He soon found that it would be harder than he thought. In addition to flying Pickford around in his airplane, he had a scene where he had to kiss Frances Marion who later became a legendary Hollywood screenwriter. Martin in describing his hesitance having to kiss Marion declared "my mother would not like it" which astounded Pickford. He worked up the courage however and completed the scene.[5] [6]
Martin held a record for longest over-water flight, 66 miles. His company designed aircraft for the military, including bombers for both world wars. An early success came during WWI with production of the MB-1 bomber. The MB-2 and others were also successful. In 1932 Martin won the Collier Trophy for his involvement with the Martin B-10 bomber.
He founded the Glenn L. Martin Company in 1912. In 1916 he merged his company with the original Wright Company, forming the Wright-Martin Aircraft Company. He soon left and founded a second Glenn L. Martin Company in 1917. That company merged with the American-Marietta Corporation in 1961, becoming the Martin Marietta Corporation. This company merged with the Lockheed Corporation in 1995, forming Lockheed Martin, a major U.S. aerospace and defense contractor.
In 1925 the Industrial Bureau contacted Glenn Martin at his plant in Cleveland, Ohio. It was the Bureau's job to attract Martin to Maryland. After speaking with Martin, a site in Middle River was chosen. From this point it was a three-year long struggle to acquire the land needed from forty-five property owners. This struggle involved convincing the citizens that this was going to become a booming industry and would provide many jobs in the area. At the end of the three year struggle only one man stood in the way- he was an old fisherman who was determined not to sell. After a few discussions with the man he still had his foot down and refused. An oddity then occurred when the man contacted Martin and told him he was willing to sell. Martin met the man, made a deal, and shook hands. Later, the man regretted the decision but stated that a deal is a deal and that he was a man of his word. At that point in 1928 the Glenn L. Martin Company moved to Maryland bringing hundreds of much needed jobs, an airport, and a booming aviation industry.[7]
Martin's donations to the University of Maryland, College Park, created the Glenn L. Martin Institute of Technology, which includes the School of Engineering. The University's wind tunnel also bears Martin's name.
He attended the Kansas Wesleyan business college in Salina, Kansas. Kansas Wesleyan University is home of the Glenn L. Martin stadium.