private industry aircraft ejection systems founded 1934 founder sir james martin captain valentine baker headquarters denham buckinghamshire uk website www.martin baker.com martin baker aircraft co. ltd. is a british manufacturer of ejection seats and safety related equipment for aviation . the company s origins were originally as an aircraft manufacturer before becoming a pioneer in the field of ejection seats . the company s headquarters are in higher denham buckinghamshire england with other sites in france italy and the united states . 1 martin baker supplies ejection seats for 93 air forces worldwide . 2 martin baker seats have been fitted into over 200 fixed wing and rotary types with the most recent being the lockheed martin f 35 lightning ii programme . martin baker claimed in 2014 that since the first live ejection test in 1946 3 a total of 7 506 lives have been saved by the company s ejection seats . 4 martin baker also manufactures crashworthy seats designed for helicopters and fixed wing aircraft . as of 2012 update over 20 000 crashworthy seats have been delivered . the martin baker company continues as a family run business run by the two sons of the late sir james martin . 2 contents 1 history 2 ejection seats 3 operations 4 references 4.1 notes 4.2 bibliography 5 external links history edit martin s aircraft works was originally founded as an aircraft manufacturer in 1934 by later sir james martin . the factory was set up in the late 1920s where four aircraft prototypes were designed and built the mb1 mb2 mb3 and mb5 . during the design and testing of the mb 1 aircraft james martin and captain valentine baker started their friendship and partnership with martin baker aircraft company ltd being established . 5 martin and baker designed an unconventional two seat low wing monoplane design in the early 1930s as the mb1 . this was powered by a de havilland gipsy engine mounted in the fuselage behind the seats and driving a fixed pitch propeller through a shaft running horizontally between the pilot and passenger . the project was abandoned due to financial constraints although the fuselage and engine installation had been completed . martin baker also constructed an autogyro designed by raoul hafner . this their first complete aircraft project was later tested by captain baker at heston aerodrome . 6 in 1935 martin and baker designed and flew their martin baker m.b. 1 a two seat light touring aircraft . their first military design was the martin baker m.b. 2 a napier dagger powered fighter that flew in 1938 . 7 it was a private venture to meet air ministry specification f. 5 34 for a fighter for service in the tropics . the m.b. 2 was tested but neither it nor other designs to f. 5 34 were adopted . 8 martin baker m.b. 3 1942 a six cannon fighter design powered by a napier sabre ; captain baker was killed in a crash while testing the prototype . 5 martin baker m.b. 4 1943 a rolls royce griffon engined fighter cancelled on the drawing board . the martin baker m.b. 5 which first flew in 1944 had started out as the second mb3 prototype but was extensively redesigned with a tubular steel fuselage . it used the griffon engine driving contra rotating propellers . 9 10 martin baker m.b. 6 1945 a second world war jet fighter project with a swing arm 0 0 spring loaded ejection seat . martin baker m.b. 7 1946 black bess a postwar interceptor high speed test aircraft concept . small flying models were made but the concept was cancelled in 1947 . martin baker manufactured aircraft components including armoured seats for supermarine spitfires throughout the second world war . in 1944 the company was approached by the ministry of aircraft production to investigate ejection systems enabling pilots to bail out safely from high speed fighter aircraft . ejection seats edit gloster meteor wa638 owned by martin baker and used for ejection seat tests meteor wl419 is also used for ejection seat tests martin baker ejection seat mk.gt5 in the republic rf 84f thunderflash 1961 1976 martin baker investigated ejection seats from 1934 onwards several years before germany and sweden proposed similar systems in 1938 . the company concluded that an explosive powered ejection seat was the best solution . in particular baker s death in 1942 during a test flight of the mb3 affected martin so much that pilot safety became his primary focus and led to the later reorganisation of the company to focus primarily on ejection seats . 11 in 1944 james martin was invited by the then ministry of aircraft production to investigate the practicability of providing fighter aircraft with a means of assisted escape for the pilot . 5 after investigating alternative schemes of escape it soon became apparent that the most effective and safe means would be by forced ejection of the seat with the occupant sitting in it and that the most efficient means of doing this would be by an explosive charge . after ejection the pilot would fall away from the seat and open his parachute by pulling a ripcord in the usual way . at that time there was no information on what the human body could withstand in the form of upward compressive thrust . some data was available concerning somewhat lower g forces applied horizontally in catapult launching of aircraft but it was inapplicable to the new problem . it therefore became necessary to carry out tests to determine the amount of upward g force the human frame would tolerate and the idea was conceived of shooting a seat up a near vertical path loading the seat to represent the weight of the occupant and measuring the accelerations involved . a 16 foot test rig was built in the form of a tripod one of the legs being in the form of guide rails . the seat was propelled up the guide rails by a gun consisting of two telescopic tubes energised by an explosive cartridge . the guide rails were provided with ratchet stops every 3 inches so that the seat was automatically arrested at the top of its travel . 12 studies were conducted to find the limits of upward acceleration that the human body could stand . the first dummy shot with the seat loaded to 200 lb was made on 20 january 1945 and four days later one of the company s experimental fitters bernard lynch undertook the first live ride being shot up the rig to a height of 4 feet 8 inches . in three further tests the power of the cartridge was progressively increased until a height of 10 feet was reached at which stage lynch reported the onset of considerable physical discomfort . the first seat was successfully live tested by lynch on 24 july 1946 who ejected from a gloster meteor travelling at 320 miles per hour 510 km h ias at 8 000 feet 2 400 m over chalgrove airfield in oxfordshire . 13 the first use of an ejection seat in a practical application by a british pilot involved the armstrong whitworth a.w. 52 flying wing experimental aircraft in may 1949 . martin baker was a pioneer in expanding the operational envelope of the ejection seat to enable it to be used at low altitudes and airspeeds leading eventually to a zero zero capability . martin baker also sponsors an ejection tie club producing a tie patch certificate tie pin and membership card for those whose lives have been saved by a martin baker ejection seat . as of 2012 update there are now over 5 800 registered members of the club since it was founded in 1957 . 14 operations edit the martin baker company maintains its own airfield chalgrove airfield in oxfordshire for operational testing of ejection seats . a second airfield the former raf langford lodge near crumlin in county antrim is also used for testing and houses a 6 200 feet 1 900 m high speed rocket sled track . two gloster meteor t. 7 aircraft wl419 and wa638 remain in service with the company as flying testbeds . another meteor wa634 used in early development of ejection seats is retained at the raf museum at raf cosford . references edit notes edit facilities . martin baker . retrieved 31 october 2012 . a b martin basker about . martin baker . retrieved 31 october 2012 . martin baker milestones . martin baker . retrieved 31 october 2012 . martin baker . martin baker . retrieved 6 august 2014 . a b c martin baker history and developments . martin baker . retrieved 31 october 2012 . valentine baker retrieved 21 july 2013 flight 1939 p. 563 . johnson and heffernan 1982 pp. 60 66 . flight 1945 pp. 588 590 . johnson and heffernan 1982 pp. 67 73 . ingram frederick c. martin baker aircraft company limited . international directory of company histories volume 61 1990 . retrieved 23 april 2009 . martin baker ejection seats mk 1 mk 10 . martin baker . retrieved 31 october 2012 . martin baker ejection seat and escape system technology . martin baker . retrieved 31 october 2012 . martin baker ejection tie club . martin baker . retrieved 31 october 2012 . bibliography edit bowyer michael j.f. interceptor fighters for the royal air force 1935 45 . wellingborough uk patrick stephens ltd. 1984 . isbn 0 85059 726 9 . green william ed . mr. martin s memorable m.b. 5 . air international vol . 16 no. 2 february 1979 . green william . war planes of the second world war fighters volume two . london macdonald & co. publishers ltd. 1961 . green william and gordon swanborough . ww2 fact files raf fighters part 2 . london macdonald and jane s publishers ltd. 1979 . isbn 0 354 01234 7 . johnson brian and terry heffernan . a most secret place boscombe down 1939 45 . london jane s publishing company 1982 . isbn 0 7106 0203 0 . the martin baker mb v. flight no. 1927 volume xlviii 29 november 1945 . p588 590 a new multi gun fighter dagger engined martin baker demonstrated flight xxxv 1588 563 1 june 1939 zuk bill . janusz zurakowski legends in the sky . st. catharine s ontario vanwell 2004 . isbn 1 55125 083 7 . ramsden j martin baker 50 years 5 000 lives 50 000 seats flight international 26 may 1979 p1733 1735 external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to martin baker . martin baker aircraft company limited electronic library see propulsion systems contribution to success of aircrew emergency escape systems pdf file pay site exit in extremis a 1948 flight article at low altitudes each second is vital 150ft . 600mph a 1954 flight advertisement for martin baker ejection seats seat and aircraft 930 lives saved a 1965 flight advertisement for the martin baker mk . 6ha zero zero ejection seat as fitted in the hawker siddeley kestrel vtol a 1966 flight advertisement for martin baker zero speed zero altitude zero zero ejections seats v t e aircraft designed or produced by martin baker mb 1 mb 2 mb 3 mb 4 mb 5 mb 6 mb 7 v t e martin baker ejection seats mk .1 mk .2 mk .3 mk .4 mk .5 mk .6 mk .7 mk .8 mk .9 mk .10 mk .11 mk .12 mk .14 mk .15 mk .16 naces mk .17 v t e aerospace industry in the united kingdom economy of the united kingdom manufacturing in the united kingdom companies current ad aerospace agustawestland airbus uk astrium satellites 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