AM Mauler

AM Mauler

Infobox Aircraft
name= AM (BTM) Mauler
type= Attack aircraft
manufacturer= Glenn L. Martin Company


caption= A Mauler in flight.
designer=
first flight= 26 August 1944
introduced= 1947
retired= 1953
status=
primary user= United States Navy
more users=
produced=
number built= 151
unit cost=
variants with their own articles=
The Martin AM Mauler (originally BTM) was a shipboard attack aircraft of the United States Navy. Designed during World War II, the aircraft did not enter production until well after the war after a number of problems. One hundred fifty-one aircraft were built, but they did not remain long in Navy service; the smaller and simpler Douglas AD Skyraider proved to be a superior aircraft. Active-duty squadrons abandoned the Mauler in 1950, and it lasted through 1953 in reserve units.

Design and development

In the 1930s and very early 1940s, the Navy differentiated between two types of carrier-borne bomber: the torpedo bomber and the dive bomber. In 1943 this distinction was abandoned, and the Navy invited proposals for a new multi-purpose bomber. Unlike previous aircraft, this was to be a single-seater; no separate bombardier or radio operator was deemed necessary, and the plane was intended to be as fast as fighters and thus not need a rear gunner.

For its new BTM Mauler, Martin decided on the Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major 28-cylinder four-row "corncob" radial engine, the largest piston engine ever to see aircraft service. Around this they designed one of the largest single-engined single-seat combat aircraft ever built. The Wasp Major was so powerful that its torque made the aircraft difficult to fly; its tendency to turn the aircraft was partially offset by pointing it two degrees to the right. Direct controls were not feasible in an aircraft of this size and bulk; instead, a system of hydraulic servos gave the pilot a power assist. All of this meant that the aircraft, originally ordered to assist in the invasion of Japan, was not ready until 1947, though the two prototypes flew in 1944.

Operational history

Problems with the tail hooks damaging the rear fuselage delayed service entry another year, and it was not until 1948 that they saw operational service. By this time, they bore the Navy's new Attack classification as AM-1. They could carry enormous bombloads; a Martin test pilot flew one hauling three 2,200 lb (1,000 kg) torpedoes, 12×500 lb (230 kg) bombs, and a full load of ammunition—a total payload of 12,648 lb (4,830 kg), a record at the time for a single-engined aircraft. Bomb loads in carrier service were smaller, though, and the plane gained a mostly-deserved reputation for being hard to land on carrier decks, leading to the nickname of "Awful Monsters". Pilots more favorably impressed by the bombload interpreted AM as "Able Mabel".O'Rourke, G.G., CAPT USN. "Of Hosenoses, Stoofs, and Lefthanded Spads". "United States Naval Institute Proceedings", July 1968.]

Although the AD-1 Skyraider was smaller and could not carry as much of a bombload, it proved much more reliable in service and easier to fly and land, and Navy pilots preferred it. In 1950, the decision was made to use the Mauler only from dry land and, later that year, all but reserve units abandoned the type. Reserves flew them until 1953.

Four or so survive; the plane that set the payload record is preserved at the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, Florida, while a number of less complete examples survive also. One of these, belonging to the Commemorative Air Force (formerly the "Confederate Air Force") was kept in flying condition until the 1980s.

Operators

;USA
*United States Navy

pecifications (AM Mauler)

aircraft specifications

plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop

crew=1
length main=41 ft 2 in
length alt=12.55 m
span main=50 ft 0 in
span alt=15.24 m
height main=16 ft 10 in
height alt=5.13 m
area main=496 ft²
area alt=46.1 m²
empty weight main=14,500 lb
empty weight alt=6,557 kg
loaded weight main=23,386 lb
loaded weight alt=10,608 kg
max takeoff weight main=23,387 lb
max takeoff weight alt=10,608 kg
engine (prop)=Pratt & Whitney R-4360-4 Wasp Major
type of prop=radial engine
number of props=1
power main=3,000 hp
power alt=2,237 kW
max speed main=376 mph
max speed alt=327 knots, 591 km/h
range main=1,800 mi
range alt=1,558 nm, 2,885 km
ceiling main=30,500 ft
ceiling alt= 9,296 m
climb rate main= 2,780 ft/min
climb rate alt= m/s
loading main=
loading alt=
power/mass main=
power/mass alt=
guns=4× 20 mm (0.787 in) cannon
bombs=10,698 lb (4,848 kg)

ee also

aircontent
related=
similar aircraft=
*A-1 Skyraider
*Curtiss XBTC
*TB2D Skypirate
lists=
*List of attack aircraft
*List of military aircraft of the United States
see also=

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Green, William and Gerald Pollinger. "The Aircraft of the World". London: Macdonald, 1955.
* Kowalski, Bob. "Martin AM-1/1-Q Mauler". Simi Valley, CA: Ginter Books, 1995. ISBN 0-942612-24-8.
* Wilson, Stewart. "Combat Aircraft Since 1945". Fyshwick, Australia: Aerospace Publications Pty Ltd., 2000. ISBN 1-87567-150-1.

External links

* [http://broadcast.illuminatedtech.com/display/story.cfm?bp=103&sid=8025 Mauler (AM)]
* [http://www.airtoaircombat.com/detail.asp?id=205 AirToAirCombat.Com: Martin AM-1 Mauler]


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