Sir James MartinCBE FIMechE FRAeS CEng | |
---|---|
Martin in 1974 | |
Born | (1893-09-11)11 September 1893 Crossgar, County Down, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland |
Died | 5 January 1981(1981-01-05) (aged 87) Southlands Manor, Denham, Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom |
Resting place | St. Mary the Virgin Churchyard, Denham, Buckinghamshire, England |
Nationality | British |
Occupation | Engineer |
Known for | Inventor of the ejector seat and founder of the Martin-Baker aircraft company |
Spouse | Muriel Haines |
Children | 4 |
Parent | Thomas Martin & Sarah Coulter |
Sir James Martin (11 September 1893 – 5 January 1981) was a British engineer who together with Captain Valentine Baker founded the Martin-Baker aircraft company which is now a leading producer of aircraft ejection seats.
Life
James Martin was born 11 September 1893 in the townland of Killinchy-in-the-Woods, known locally as Killinchy Woods (birthplace on what is now called Glasswater Road), Crossgar, County Down in Northern Ireland. He established his own engineering firm in 1929.
In 1934, he and Valentine Baker formed Martin-Baker; Captain Baker took the test pilot role. It was in a crash of their third design, the MB 3, that Baker was killed.
In 1964 Martin was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Aero Club.
In 2004, Martin was inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame at the San Diego Air & Space Museum.
Northern Bank
Martin's contribution to engineering was commemorated by the Northern Bank in its Inventor series of banknotes, which featured his portrait on the bank's £100 note. The note was discontinued in 2013 when the bank reissued its banknotes under the new Danske Bank brand.
Notes and references
- "Sir James Martin – Photograph and short history". Archived from the original on 26 September 2009. Retrieved 29 July 2009.
- "The Medals & Awards of the Royal Aero Club". The Royal Aero Club of the United Kingdom. Archived from the original on 1 August 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
- Sprekelmeyer, Linda, editor. These We Honor: The International Aerospace Hall of Fame. Donning Co. Publishers, 2006. ISBN 978-1-57864-397-4.
- "Current Banknotes: Danske Bank". The Association of Commercial Banknote Issuers. Archived from the original on 28 October 2017. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
External links
- Sir James Martin at martin-baker.com
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- 1893 births
- 1981 deaths
- 20th-century British inventors
- British aerospace engineers
- Irish inventors
- Irish military engineers
- English people of Irish descent
- British people of Irish descent
- Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
- Engineers from County Down
- Knights Bachelor
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