Martin-Baker MB.2

MB.2

Martin-Baker M.B.1 и M.B.2

В 1934 году Джеймс Мартин основал компанию "Martin-Baker Aircraft Company", задачей которой было налаживание производства самолетов, основой конструкции которых был необычный каркас, разработанный самим Джеймсом Мартином. Последний утверждал, что такой каркас позволит снизить массу летательного аппарата, обеспечив одновременно надлежащую прочность конструкции и, что немаловажно, приемлемую стоимость такого самолета и простоту его эксплуатации и ремонта. Первым самолетом такой конструкции стал M.B.1 - свободнонесущий низкоплан с закрытой кабиной для двух членов экипажа и двигателем Napier Javelin IIIA мощностью 160 л. с. Самолет впервые поднялся в воздух в марте 1935 года. Так и оставшийся в единственном экземпляре, этот опытный самолет сгорел в начале 1938 года. После этого компания "Martin-Baker" приступила к проектированию одноместного истребителя - под требования британского министерства авиации № R5/34. Построенный в итоге прототип M.B.2 представлял собой "чистый" свободнонесущий низкоплан, оснащенный двигателем Napier Dagger III "H" мощностью 1000 л. с. Первый его полет состоялся 3 августа 1938 года. В самолете нашли воплощение многие новейшие на то время идеи, а в ходе официальных испытаний машина показала весьма высокую максимальную скорость - 563 км/ч. Однако заказа на серийное производство не последовало, самолет вскоре был разобран.

Flight, June 1939

A NEW MULTI-GUN FIGHTER
Dagger-engined Martin-Baker Demonstrated : Unique Structural Features.

   EASE of production is, perhaps, the chief recommendation of a new single-seater multi-gun fighter monoplane demonstrated by The Martin-Baker Aircraft Co., Ltd., of Higher Denham, at Heston last Friday. It is claimed that all parts can, if necessary, be fabricated in small workshops throughout the country and be sent to a central factory for final assembly. According to Mr. J. Martin, chairman and chief designer, twenty machines a week could be turned out by a factory employing 2,000 people.
   The Martin-Baker monoplane is unique among British fighters in that its length is greater than its span, its wings measuring 34ft. and its fuselage 34ft. 6in.
   With the exception of the wing covering the machine is entirely of steel construction which, according to the designer, is an important point when there is such a big demand for duralumin. Quickly detachable panels are fitted round the fuselage, which is of tubular construction. The cockpit enclosure is unique in that the main portion hinges back toward the starboard side, allowing not only easy entry and exit but access to the front and back of the instrument panel.
   Oil coolers are fitted in the undercarriage leg on the port side, and the cooling air lor the Napier Dagger 24-cylinder, 1,000 h.p. engine is exhausted through a controlled outlet on the underside of the fuselage.
   Only external inspections were permitted at the demonstration. but one noted the masking plates over the elevator and rudder gaps and the jacking points on the underside of the wings to enable the machine to lie raised should it be necessary to change a tyre.
   Capt. V. H. Baker, who has done all the contractors’ test flying on the machine, took it up to 10,000 ft. and put it into what appeared to be a vertical dive with engine off, reaching at least 400 m.p.h. when the A.S.I. needle went “off the dock.” Particularly impressive was the tightness of the turns due, no doubt, to the comparatively short span of the machine. Originally no fin was fitted, the machine depending for directional stability on the side area of the fuselage, but the tail is now more or less of orthodox design.

Flight, November 1939

Britain's Military Aircraft
A Survey of Our Service Machines

MARTIN-BAKER

   A TYPE of construction which makes for rapid production is perhaps the most outstanding characteristic of the Martin-Baker single-seater multi-gun fighter. This aircraft is unique among British military types in that its length is greater than its span, the wings measuring 34ft. and the fuselage 34ft. 6in.
   The undercarriage is of the fixed trousered type and carries the oil coolers for the 24-cylinder Napier Dagger air-cooled engine.
   During a demonstration this year it was shown that the machine was very manoeuvrable, the tightness of the turns being particularly impressive.
   Quickly detachable panels are fitted round the fuselage, and the cockpit enclosure is unique in that the main portion hinges back toward the starboard side, allowing not only easy entry and exit, but access to the front and back of the instrument panel.

The Martin Baker Aircraft Co., Ltd., Higher Denham, Bucks.

MB.2 в демонстрационном полете
The Martin Baker multi-gun fighter is of unusual appearance. It is fitted with a Napier Dagger twenty-four cylinder aircooled engine and is of very simple, but sturdy, construction.

Perhaps the most remarkable feature of Capt. Baker’s demonstration was the tightness of his turns near the ground.

The picture, taken in May 1939, shows the M.B.2 flying at Heston with the definitive fin and rudder.

MB.2 в первоначальном варианте без вертикального оперения

The works team that built the MB 2 fighter prototype probably immediately following completion in July 1938. At that early stage the MB 2 had no fixed fin or rudder area projecting above the line of the rear fuselage.

Left pilot partner Valentine Baker, centre, James Martin and right, Francis Francis who added much-needed financial muscle to the fledgling enterprise. In the background, the MB.2.

The three founding members of Martin-Baker Aircraft beside the M.B.2 in 1939. From left: Capt Valentine Henry Baker, who was killed in the M.B.2’s successor, the M.B.3, in September 1942; James Martin, who was so affected by Baker’s death that he established Martin-Baker as the world leader in ejection-seat technology, and Francis Francis.

The men behind it (left to right): Capt. V. H. Baker, Mr. J. Martin and Mr. Francis Francis (Martin-Baker Aircraft); Sir Harold Snagge (chairman of Napiers), Maj. F. B. Halford (designer of the engine), Mr. A. E. Hagg and Mr. W. P. Savage, of Napiers.

The M.B.2 photographed at Martlesham Heath in November 1938 after the tiny fin was added.

Ошибочно на фюзеляж прототипа M.B.2 нанесли надпись "M.B.1". Виден небольшой киль, который позже увеличили.

Built as a private venture to meet the Air Ministry F.5/34 specification, the M.B.2 was first flown with the markings M-B-1.

MISLEADING LEGEND. A hitherto unpublished photograph of the Martin-Baker M.B.2 - unearthed by Chris Cole of the Air Ministry's Press Division - reveals the faintly discernible fuselage inscription "M-B-I". This view shows the second form of tail assembly (the first possessed no fin area above the tailplane). which was later revised to a taller, conventional-style fin and rudder shape. The sole prototype (P9594) was designed to Air Min. Spec. F.5/34 as an eight-gun fighter (0.303.-in. Brownings), powered by a 1,000-h.p. Napier Dagger Srs. III.

MB.2 вскоре после сборки с промежуточным вариантом киля

MB 2 at the intermediate stage at which the sole prototype embodied a small vertical fin.

The M.B.2 photographed at Martlesham in June 1939, where further testing showed that modifications to the rudder had made it considerably more effective. By this time the serial number P9594 had been applied.

MB.2 с окончательным вариантом оперения. Выдвинут противокапотажный пилон
The sole Martin Baker M.B.2 private venture single-seat fighter was powered by a 798 h.p. 24-cylinder Napier-Halford Dagger M.3 engine. Later it acquired the RAF serial number P9594. It is seen here at Heston in May 1939.

Taken at Heston in May 1939, this photograph shows the sleek lines of the M.B.2 to advantage. The aircraft was painted deep olive all over and bore roundels outlined in yellow.

Простота конструкции делала M.B.2, что называется, мечтой для авиатехников, но вот пилоты от него в восторге не были.
The first aircraft developed by the newly-formed Martin-Baker Aircraft Co Ltd was the M.B.1 two-seat light tourer, but by March 1936 the company had started building a modern single-seat fighter, the Napier Dagger-powered M.B.2, seen here in 1939, after it had been given the RAF serial P9594. First flown by Valentine Baker on August 3, 1938, the fixed-undercarriage M.B.2 could not compete against the Hurricane and Spitfire, both already in RAF service by that time.

The square-cut appearance of the new Martin-Baker multigun fighter is accentuated by the lines of the nose cowl over the Napier Dagger engine. There is an electrically operated ”crash post” which is normally housed within the cockpit enclosure.
The Martin-Baker M.B.2 private venture, single-seat fighter powered by a 1,000 h.p. Napier Dagger III engine, originally allocated the registration G-AEZD, seen at Heston in June 1939.

Purposeful gait of the MB 2 in evidence. Note extended crash-post protruding from the cockpit.

Further view of the M.B.2 taken at Heston in May 1939. In the photograph the crash pylon is extended to give protection to the pilot in the event of the aircraft overturning.

The turn-over pylon extended.

Two photographs showing the gun ammunition box and the installation of the eight Browning 0-303in machine guns. Later, the Martin Baker company was instructed to install two 20mm cannon in each of the M.B.2’s wings and carry out 10hr of flight testing and firing.

The general arrangement drawing shows the Martin Baker M.B.2 in its final form with scrap views of the original and intermediate vertical control surfaces.

The Martin-Baker M.B.2 in its definitive form with orthodox tail surfaces.

Martin-Baker MB.2

Схема окончательного вида MB.2