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Glenn Luther Martin (January 17, 1886 - December 5, 1955) was an aviation pioneer.

[edit] Early years

Glenn L. Martin was born in Macksburg, Iowa, on January 17th, 1886. At the age of two Martin's family moved to Kansas so that his father could run a wheat farm. As a 6 year old boy, Glenn Martin was laughed at by other students because of his weird looking kite. His box-shaped kite was different from others and was strange-looking. His kite, which no one thought would fly, flew up into the sky, higher than anyone’s. Soon enough, people paid him twenty-five cents a kite to make his odd kite for other kids. He eventually turned his mothers kitchen into a factory so that he could produce more kites. In addition to his kites Martin began using sails on everything from ice skates to wagons, and even his bicycle to move faster with less effort. ^[1]

[edit] Growing Up

As he grew up, he became fascinated with the Wright brothers' plane, so in 1909, he decided to build one himself. Martin's plane was destroyed on the first test flight. For the next test flight, Martin used bamboo and spruce for his plane instead. This time, it flew up into the air for 12 seconds and rose 100 feet. Glenn Martin had made history as the first person to fly a plane for so long and so high^{(cite needed)}. Often Martin was assisted by his mother Minta Martin in the building of his first few airplanes.

[edit] Villain

In 1912 Glenn L. Martin had constructed an airplane factory from an old Methodist church in Los Angelos, California. To make money to finance this business Martin began to stunt fly at fairs and local airports. He saw an advertisement for a pilot that owns a plane to be in a movie. He knew that this would be a good way to market his airplanes so he replied to the advertisement. He was to play the role of a dashing villain in the movie "The Girl of Yesteryear." Martin got the part and he soon found that it would be harder than he thought. There was a kissing scene that Martin had some difficulty with since he was such a gentleman. Martin was able to work up the courage needed to complete this scene and became a success in Hollywood.^[2]

[edit] Archievements

Martin had many achievements. He has he a record of longest over-water flight, 66-mile flight. Glenn designed many planes for wars too. He produced bomber planes for WWI and WWII. His first greatest success came during WWI. He produced a bombing plane called the MB-1. The MB-2 and others were also very successful. He is also appreciated by many people for designing planes.

[edit] Companies

He also has many different companies. There was the Glenn L. Martin Company that was founded in 1912. There’s also a Wright-Martin Aircraft Company in 1916, a second Glenn L. Martin Company in 1917. The Glenn Martin Company merged with the American-Marietta Corporation in 1961, which made the Martin Marietta Corporation. This company merged with the Lockheed Corporation in 1995, which formed Lockheed Martin. These companies made planes, sold them, and also used them in war. The current company is the Lockheed Martin which resides in the USA.

[edit] The Glenn L. Martin Company moves to Maryland

In 1925 the Industrial Bureau contacted Glenn Martin at his plant in Cleveland. It was the Bureau's job to attract Martin to Maryland. After speaking with Martin a site in Middle River was chosen. From this point it was a three year long struggle to acquire the land needed from forty-five property owners. This struggle involved convincing the citizens that this was going to become a booming industry and would provide many jobs. At the end of the three year struggle only one man stood in the way. He was an old fisherman who was determined not to sell. After a few discussions with the man he still had his foot down. An oddity than occurred when the man contacted Martin and was willing to sell. Martin met the man, made a deal, and shuck hands. Later the man regretted the decision but stated that a deal is a deal and that he was a man of his word. At that point in 1928 the Glenn L. Martin Company moved to Maryland bringing hundreds of much needed jobs, an airport, and a booming aviation industry.^[3]

[edit] Schools by Glenn L. Martin

Martin gave to the University of Maryland, College Park, creating the Glenn L. Martin Institute of Technology, which includes the School of Engineering. The University's wind tunnel also bears Martin's name.

He attended the Kansas Wesleyan business college in Salina Kansas. Kansas Wesleyan University is home of the Glenn L. Martin stadium.

[edit] External links

• Martin's biography at the GLM Maryland Aviation Museum
• Kites to Bombers (Time Magazine, May 29, 1939)

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