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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.〔("Facilities." ) ''Martin-Baker.'' Retrieved: 31 October 2012.〕 Martin-Baker supplies ejection seats for 93 air forces worldwide.〔("Martin-Basker: About." ) ''Martin-Baker.'' Retrieved: 31 October 2012.〕 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,〔("Martin Baker: Milestones." ) ''Martin-Baker.'' Retrieved: 31 October 2012.〕 a total of 7,450 lives have been saved by the company's ejection seats.〔("Martin Baker." ) ''Martin-Baker.'' Retrieved: 6 August 2014.〕 Martin-Baker also manufactures crashworthy seats designed for helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. , 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.〔 ==History== "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.〔("Martin-Baker: History and developments." ) ''Martin-Baker.'' Retrieved: 31 October 2012.〕 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.〔(Valentine Baker ) Retrieved 21 July 2013〕 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.〔''Flight'' 1939, p. 563.〕 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.〔Johnson and Heffernan 1982, pp. 60–66.〕 * 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.〔 * 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.〔''Flight'' 1945, pp. 588–590.〕〔Johnson and Heffernan 1982, pp. 67–73.〕 * 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. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Martin-Baker」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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