Martin 4-0-4

Martin 4-0-4
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An Eastern Airlines Martin 4-0-4 ca. 1955
Type	short/medium range airliner
Manufacturer	Glenn L. Martin Company
Maiden flight	1950
Introduced	1951
Primary users	Eastern Air Lines Trans World Airlines
Produced	1947-1953
Number built	103
Developed from	Martin 2-0-2

The Martin 4-0-4 is a an American pressurized passenger airliner built by the Glenn L. Martin Company. As well as airline use initially in the United States it was used by the United States Coast Guard and United States Navy as the RM-1G (later as the VC-3A).

Design and development

When production of the earlier Martin 2-0-2 was stopped due to problems with wing structural failure the company decided to re-wing an improved version (which had already flown as the Martin 3-0-3). The new aircraft was the Martin 4-0-4, it had structural changes to the wings, pressurization and lengthened slightly to take 40-passengers. Like the earlier 2-0-2 the 4-0-4 was a cantilever monoplane with a standard tail unit (cantilver tailplane and single vertical stabilizer). It had a retractable tricycle landing gear and was powered by two Pratt & Whitney R-2800-CB16 radial piston engines.

Operational history

First deliveries in 1951 were made to Eastern Air Lines (who had ordered 60) and Trans World Airlines (who had ordered 40). The only other new aircraft of the production line were delivered to the United States Coast Guard who had ordered two as executive transports with the designation RM-1G later changed to RM-1 and then in 1962 to VC-3A. In 1969 they were transferred to the United States Navy and they had both been withdrawn from use by 1970. A total of 103 aircraft were built at the Glenn L. Martin factory in Baltimore.

Accidents and incidents

Of the 103 aircraft built there have been 23 hull-loss accidents including nine fatal accidents:

• 19 February 1955: TWA Flight 260 crashed into the Sandia Mountains, killing the three crew and 13 passengers.
• 1 April 1956: TWA Flight 400 crashed on takeoff from Greater Pittsburgh International Airport, 22 of the 36 people aboard the aircraft died.
• 2 July 1963: Mohawk Airlines Flight 121 crashed during takeoff from Rochester-Monroe airport, killing seven people and injuring 36.

Operators

Civil

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Military

File:Rm1 1958 1 300 USCG.jpg

United States Coast Guard RM-1

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• United States Coast Guard
• United States Navy

References

Bibliography

• Andrade, John. U.S. Military Aircraft Designations and Serials since 1909. Leicester, UK: Midland Counties Publications, 1979, p. 95 and 217. ISBN 0-904597-22-9,
• The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985). London: Orbis Publishing, 1985.
• Smith, M.J. Jr. Passenger Airliners of the United States, 1926-1991. Missoula, Montana: Pictorial Histories Publishing Company, 1986. ISBN 0-933126-72-7.

External links

• Martin Airliners - Maryland Aviation Museum
• Martin 202/404 Census - oldprops.ukhome.net (photos and history also on site)
• Many detailed close-up photographs of a restored Martin 4-0-4
• Aviation Safety Network

See also

Related development

• Martin 2-0-2
• Convair 240

Related lists

• List of military aircraft of the United States
• List of military aircraft of the United States (naval)

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Martin 4-0-4".