Glenn Luther Martin

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

Early Years

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 to make his odd kite for other kids.

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.

= 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.

= 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.

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.

External links

* [http://www.marylandaviationmuseum.org/history/glenn_martin/index.html Martin's biography at the GLM Maryland Aviation Museum]
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,931281-1,00.html Kites to Bombers (Time Magazine, May 29, 1939)]