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Aviation History
1945
1945 - 2359.PDF
.•588 FLIGHT NOVEMBER 2QTH, 1945 The Martin-Baker M-B V * Low Weight, High Power and Qood Design Skilfully Combined t Exceptional Accessibility Facilitates Maintenance /% MONG the minor mysteries of the war are the reasons /~\ why the Martin-Baker fighter, the M-B V, was not . adopted and put into production. It has many admirable features. The answer can hardly be that it arrived too late, for it made its first test flight from Harwell Airfield on May 23rd, 1944, so there should have been ample opportunity to get it through any initial teething troubles which might have been expected in a new type. As it is, Mr. L. B. Greensted, Rotol's chief test pilot, has done some 75 hours' test flying on the prototype, and we believe we are correct in saying that the machine has given no mechanical trouble in that time. It nearly came to an untimely end at the Farn- borough demonstration recently, when a broken piston filled the cockpit with fumes and compelled Mr. Green- sted to jettison the hood while doing some 400 m.p.h. His arm nearly followed the hood, and he strained a shoulder muscle. Nevertheless, he managed to make a safe forced landing on the runway, a remarkably good effort in the circumstances. Pretty and Practical The sleek lines of the machine came in for a good deal of comment at Farnborough. In the main, these may may be said to have been made possible by placing the radiators under the belly of the fuselage below and aft of the cockpit. This position leaves the fuselage nose very clean and slim, and the long spinner over the hubs of the contra-rotating airscrew carries the lines almost to a point. The only break in the lines under the nose is formed by the very long air intake to the carburettor. This extends up to the spinner, and is an integral part of the engine cowling. Of importance in air fighting is the fact that the pilot's seat is \veil< forward, and gives an excellent view over the nose and leading edge of the wings. A special feature is that the pilot has a gun-sight angle of 9! deg., which is suit- able for the gyro gtkjr sight. The armammt of the M-B V comprises The placing of the radiators ait under the belly results in a very clean nose. The air intake for the carburet- ter is extended up to the spinner.
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