Martin-Baker

Slagorde · Vliegtuigfabrikanten · Verenigd Koninkrijk

Martin-Baker

Martin-Baker Aircraft Company Limited · Martin’s Aircraft Works

A fighter builder whose test pilot died in its most promising prototype, and whose grieving founder turned instead to the ejection seat, which has now saved more than 7,800 lives.

1934Opgericht
ActiefStatus
5Vliegtuigen geregistreerd
LandVerenigd KoninkrijkOpgericht1934-08-17OprichtersJames Martin, Valentine BakerHoofdkwartierHigher Denham, BuckinghamshireEigenaarMartin familyStatusActief
Het verhaal

Martin-Baker: the company and the aircraft that made its name

Two men at Denham

James Martin, a self-taught Northern Irish engineer, set up Martin’s Aircraft Works at Denham in 1929, and on 17 August 1934 formed the Martin-Baker Aircraft Company with the flying instructor Captain Valentine Baker. Their first aircraft, the MB 1 of 1935, put its engine behind the seats and drove the propeller by a long shaft. The MB 2 fighter of 1938 lost out under specification F.5/34, but the six-cannon MB 3, powered by a Napier Sabre, first flew on 31 August 1942 and impressed everyone who saw it.

The fighter that killed Captain Baker

Days later, in September 1942, the Sabre failed just after take-off. Baker tried to save the aircraft, hit obstacles in a field and was killed in the fire. The redesigned MB 5, with a Griffon engine driving contra-rotating propellers, flew in May 1944 and is often counted among the finest piston fighters ever built, but no orders came. Baker’s death changed Martin’s life’s work. When the Ministry of Aircraft Production asked him in 1944 how pilots could escape fast fighters, safety became his single focus.

A seat that saves lives

Martin chose an explosive charge to fire the seat and its occupant clear. On 24 January 1945 the experimental fitter Bernard Lynch rode a test rig four feet eight inches up a tripod; on 24 July 1946 he ejected from a Gloster Meteor at 320 mph. Martin-Baker achieved zero-zero capability in 1961, and its seats have since gone into more than 200 aircraft types for 93 air forces, from the Meteor to the F-35. By 2026 they had saved 7,831 lives. The firm is still family-run, led since 1979 by Sir James Martin’s twin sons.

A fighter builder whose test pilot died in its most promising prototype, and whose grieving founder turned instead to the ejection seat, which has now saved more than 7,800 lives.Martin-Baker · verified 2026-10-03
In één oogopslag

Martin-Baker in numbers

Het bedrijf

Kortom
Opgericht in 1934

  • James Martin’s works at Denham dates from 1929
  • Martin-Baker Aircraft Company formed 17 August 1934 with Valentine Baker
  • Family-run; led by the founder’s twin sons since 1979

Productie

Het meest bekend om
Schietstoelen

  • Four fighter and light-aircraft prototypes: MB 1, MB 2, MB 3, MB 5
  • Seats fitted to more than 200 aircraft types
  • More than 20,000 crashworthy seats delivered by 2012

Vandaag

Nu
7,831 lives saved

  • Supplies 93 air forces
  • Sites in the UK, France, Italy and the United States

Supplies the ejection seat for the F-35 programme.

De cijfers

Lives saved by Martin-Baker seats
7,8312026
Air forces supplied
93
Aircraft types fitted
meer dan 200
Crashworthy seats delivered
more than 20,0002012
Het vliegtuig

Every notable Martin-Baker aircraft

Vliegtuig Rol Eerste vlucht Gebouwd Status Opmerking
Martin-Baker MB 1 Tweezits licht vliegtuig 1935 1 Gepensioneerd Engine behind the cockpit driving the propeller by shaft
Martin-Baker MB 2 Prototype van een gevechtsvliegtuig 1938 1 Gepensioneerd Napier Dagger; private venture to F.5/34
Martin-Baker MB 3 Prototype van een gevechtsvliegtuig 1942 1 Gepensioneerd Six 20 mm cannon; crashed September 1942, killing Valentine Baker
Martin-Baker MB 4 Fighter project Gepensioneerd Griffon-engined design, cancelled on the drawing board
Martin-Baker MB 5 Prototype van een gevechtsvliegtuig 1944 1 Gepensioneerd Griffon with contra-rotating propellers
Plaatsen, mensen, archieven

Where Martin-Baker built, who led it, what it achieved

Fabrieken

  • Higher Denham headquarters · Higher Denham, Buckinghamshire — Company base since the 1930s

Mensen

  • Sir James Martin · founder and engineer — Designed the company’s aircraft and its ejection seats
  • Valentine Baker · co-founder and test pilot — Killed testing the MB 3, 1942
  • Bernard Lynch · experimental fitter — Made the first live rig ride (1945) and first in-flight test ejection (1946)

Records en primeurs

  • First live ejection-seat test from a British jet: Bernard Lynch from a Gloster Meteor at 320 mph, 24 July 1946
  • Zero-zero ejection capability achieved in 1961
Tijdlijn

Martin-Baker, year by year

1929

James Martin establishes his aircraft works at Denham

1934

Martin-Baker Aircraft Company formed

1935

MB 1 flies

1938

MB 2 first flight

1942

MB 3 first flight

1942

Valentine Baker killed in the MB 3

1944

MB 5 first flight

1945

First live ride on the ejection test rig

1946

First in-flight live test ejection, from a Meteor

1961

Zero-zero ejection capability

1979

Founder’s twin sons take over the company

Vragen en antwoorden

Everything people ask about Martin-Baker

Did Martin-Baker build aircraft?
Yes. Before specialising in ejection seats it built the MB 1, MB 2, MB 3 and MB 5 prototypes.
Why did Martin-Baker switch to ejection seats?
Co-founder Valentine Baker’s death in the MB 3 in 1942 made pilot safety James Martin’s priority, and the ministry asked him to work on escape systems in 1944.
How many lives have Martin-Baker seats saved?
7,831 as of 2026, according to Wikipedia citing company figures.
Which aircraft use Martin-Baker seats?
More than 200 types, from the Gloster Meteor and Hawker Hunter to the F-35.

Vervolg de rondleiding

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Geverifieerd op 3 oktober 2026.