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History of our Martin 404 – 14233/N485A/N259S

Manufacture Date – Oct. 15, 1952 - Martin Company, Middle River, Maryland Delivery Date - Nov. 4, 1952 - to Eastern Airlines

1952-62 Eastern Airlines – New York, New York 1962-64 Charlotte Aircraft Corp. 1964-76 Southern Airways – Atlanta, Ga. 1976 Transexecutive Airline/Shawnee Airlines – Orlando, Fla./Dolphin Aviation 1976-80 Florida Airlines – Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. 1980 Ocean Airways – New Haven, Conn./St. Simons Is., Ga. 1981 Florida Airlines - Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. 1981-85 Southern International Airways – Sarasota/Bradenton, Fla. 1985-88 Wheeler Systems, Inc. 1988-89 Systems International Airways – Washington D.C. 1988-89 Storage – Bartow, Fla. 1989 Federal Leasing Co. 1989-92 Systems International Airways 1992 Allstate Financial Corp. (Repossession) 1992 Business Funding of Florida Inc. 1992 Storage – Russellville Arkansas 1995 Save A Connie, Inc. – bought for preservation – ferried to Kansas City, Mo. 1996 Classic Airways (Tom Aarvik/ Luthard) – K.C to San Diego to Long Beach to San Bernadino, California 1998 Glenn L, Martin Museum learns of aircraft and begins negotiating acquisi-tion with Mr. Luthard 2000 Museum raises money for acqui-sition. Plane is flown from California to Baltimore by Jeff Whitesell and crew

Martin 404 Transport

(1951)

Commercial – Eastern Airlines – TWA The Martin 202/404 was truly the first "modern" airliner. Designed to be a replacement for the Douglas DC-3, the Martin Sky-liner was the first post-war airliner design to reach production. There were 103 Martin 404s built. Eastern Airlines had the largest

fleet, with 60. The Martins of Eastern Airlines were primarily deployed along their eastern sea-board routes, and in Flor-ida. TWA operated 40 of the 404s. Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, and the Doobie Brothers each used modified Martin 404s. Sinatra’s plane had a lounge area with a piano, a curved bar, a bedroom, and for night flights, an artificial moon and twinkling stars built into the ceiling. The exterior was pink with brown trim. In 2000, Mr. Luthard, of Classic Airways, donated his 404 to the museum.

Glenn L. MartinGlenn L. Martin

Maryland Aviation MuseumMaryland Aviation Museum

Static Display at Strawberry PointStatic Display at Strawberry Point

Aircraft DisplayAircraft Display

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The two-place T-33A jet was de-signed for training pilots already qualified to fly propeller-driven aircraft. It was developed from the single-seat F-80 fighter. The T-33A was the only jet trainer in the USAF inventory from 1948 until the advent of the Cessna T-37A in 1957 and the Northrop T-38A in 1961. It also served as an instrument trainer and utility aircraft as well as a test aircraft.

At the beginning of the 1980s, the T-33 was being retired from several air forces, including the USAF. Some were transferred directly to the U.S. civil register. In 1987, almost 40 years after their introduction, a number of T-33s were still in service. The T-33 is one of the world's best known aircraft, having served with the air forces of more than 20 different countries for almost 40 years. The plane was airlifted to the mu-seum site by Chinook helicopter from the US Army Proving Grounds in Aberdeen Maryland.

Lockheed T-33A

“SHOOTING STAR" (1948)

Museum Offerings Map

Martin’s Strawberry Point at its peak Martin’s Strawberry Point at its peak Martin’s Strawberry Point at its peak during WWIIduring WWIIduring WWII

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McDonnell F-4C Phantom

(1961)

McDonnell F-101 Voodoo

(1951)

air-to-air victories and the de-struction of more than 200 anti-aircraft sites. The Phantom was the first multi-service aircraft, flying concur-rently with the U.S. Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. It is the first and only aircraft ever to be flown concurrently by both the Blue Angels and the Thunder-birds.

The Phantom was first used by the U.S. Navy as an interceptor but also was capable of flying as a ground-support bomber for the U.S. Marine Corps. The aircraft flew every traditional military mis-sion: air superiority, close air sup-port, interception, air defense suppression, long-range strike, fleet defense, attack and recon-naissance. Pilots called it “brutishly ugly,” but loved its exceptional all-weather performance. The aircraft starred in both the Vietnam War and Operation De-sert Storm with a record of 280

The McDonnell Voodoo was a supersonic fighter designed to escort bombers and serve as a fighter bomber, an all-weather interceptor and a photorecon-naissance aircraft. It served dur-ing the Cuban missile crisis and during the Vietnam War. The F-101 Voodoo eventually emerged as a tactical reconnais-sance aircraft, as a long-range

interceptor, and as a nuclear strike aircraft. It was the first pro-duction fighter capable of ex-ceeding 1000 mph in level flight. Only the reconnaissance version ever saw combat, flying the fast-est combat missions ever flown during flights over North Vietnam. In Operation Firewall on Dec. 12, 1957, an F-101A fighter-bomber set a world speed record of 1,207 mph. In 1995, the aircraft, along with the F-4 Phantom, was delivered to the museum by barge from the US Army Proving Grounds in Aberdeen Maryland. The wings had to be removed due to trans-port difficulties; if not, the plane would have been scrapped on site.

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Douglas TA-4J Skyhawk

(1954)

Both of our B-57 Canberras were acquired from the US Army Prov-ing Grounds in Aberdeen Mary-land in the summer of 1992. They had been stored there for years and were home to vines, small trees, bushes, poison ivy, bugs of all kinds, and a few snakes. The planes were airlifted to Mar-tin State Airport via Chinook Helicopter. Arrangements were made with the Md. Army National Guard and the Army Helicopter Detachment at Ft. Meade. The first B-57 was air-

lifted to Strawberry Point, flying over water via the Chesapeake Bay and Middle River. The sec-ond was flown to Martin State airport directly south above and parallel to Maryland Rt.40.

the last U.S. bombs there. Nota-ble pilots like Lt. (Jg) Everett Al-varez, John McCain, and Vice Admiral James Stockdale flew the Skyhawk. This U.S. Navy aircraft was the next to last US Navy Skyhawk to fly. U.S. Navy squadron VC-8 used it as an adversary aircraft to simulate an enemy combatant. In June 2001, our TA-4J flew from Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico to Martin State Airport.

The Skyhawk was designed by Douglas' Ed Heinemann in re-sponse to a U.S. Navy call for a jet-powered attack aircraft to re-place the A-1 Skyraider. The result was an aircraft that weighed only half of the Navy's specification and had a wing so compact that it did not need to be folded for carrier stowage. The plane was nicknamed the “Scooter” by carrier-based Navy pilots because of its nimble per-formance. Skyhawks received much use in the early years of the Vietnam War in the light bomber role. Sky-hawks carried out some of the first air strikes by the U.S. during the conflict and a Marine Sky-hawk is believed to have dropped

Martin RB-57A Canberra

(1954) #2

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with the Air National Guard. The plane was first deployed in Viet-nam in November 1967 in the gulf of Tonkin. The design pa-rameters of the A-7 were chosen so that the aircraft had great mis-sion versatility. The aircraft was successfully em-ployed in just about every con-ceivable attack role during the Vietnam conflict.

fed by a pair of wing root air in-takes, the nose being taken up by a bank of cameras. After being delivered to Straw-berry Point from the US Army Proving Grounds in Aberdeen Maryland, museum members gave the plane a new paint finish, new tires were mounted, the wing drop tanks were reattached.

Fairchild Republic RF 84F

"Thunderflash" (1952)

A swept-wing fighter-bomber de-velopment of the straight-winged F84-E.The first of the modern jets to be designed specifically for photo-reconnaissance, the Thun-derflash was the first reconnais-sance airplane equipped with a combination of standard aerial cameras and dicing camera for close-up photos of individual tar-gets. The RF-84F Thunderflash was the photographic reconnaissance version of the F-84F Thunder-streak. It had many components in common with the F-84F, but differed in having the jet engine

Vought A7 Corsair II (1965)

Often called the SLUFF (short little ugly fat fellow) The name Corsair has its origins in a series of famous biplanes built for the Navy by the Vought Corporation between World Wars I and II, and the famous inverted gull-wing WWII fighter. The mod-ern-day descendant of these his-toric aircraft is the Vought A-7 Corsair II. A light attack aircraft based on the F-8 Crusader—a carrier-based aircraft designed to re-place the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk, the Corsair served with both the United States Navy and the United States Air Force, and later

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North American F-100F

Supersabre (1954)

Republic F-105G

Thunderchief (1955)

The F-100F two-seat Super Sa-bre originated on May 10, 1954 in a North American design study for a supersonic trainer version of the F-100 single-seat day fighter. The world’s first supersonic fighter – Top speed of 852 mph It was the first plane with a struc-ture incorporating heat-resistant titanium alloys. The F-100F was essentially an F-100D stretched for two crewmembers. The F-100F, which first flew in March 1957, retained the air-superiority and fighter-bomber capabilities of the F-100D.

Some F-100Fs were specially converted to attack surface-to-air missile (SAM) and radar guided gun sites. These aircraft were called 'Wild Weasel I'; the first aircraft known by what became the generic 'Wild Weasel' for air-craft designed to attack SAM sites in Vietnam This F-100F flew into Martin State Airport from Holloman AFB, N.M. in 1995. The plane is on loan to the museum from the US Army.

The F-105 Thunderchief was the first supersonic tactical fighter-bomber that was developed from scratch for this role. Although designed for the nu-clear strike role, the Thunderchief gained distinction for the role it played in the Vietnam War in de-livering conventional ordinance on targets in the North. It was the primary USAF strike aircraft during the Rolling Thun-der operations against targets in North Vietnam, and the two-seat version went on to perform su-perlatively in the Wild Weasel flak suppression role, the mission to

silence enemy SAM radars. At high speed at very low alti-tudes, exceeding Mach 1 at sea level, there were no other aircraft that could catch it At the time the world’s heaviest single-seat jet at 50,000 pounds, the F-105 was known under sev-eral nicknames such as "Super Hog", "Ultra Hog", and "Lead Sled", but the aircraft is now re-membered as the "Thud". The plane carried out 75% of the

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mained, for years, the only jet tactical bomber in the USAF. The B-57 Canberra played an important part in nine years of combat in the Vietnam War. In Vietnam, on February 19, 1965--The B-57 became the first American jet bomber to drop live ordnance against any enemy. British bombers were traditionally named for cities. The name "Canberra" was chosen for the new bomber, in honor of the capi-tal of Australia. This became offi-cial in January of 1950.

Martin RB-57A Canberra

(1953)

strikes against North Vietnam between 1965-69. The first YF-105A rolled out of the factory in the autumn of 1955. It was shipped to Edwards AFB for initial trials over the Mojave Desert. The first flight of the YF-105A (54-098) took place on Oc-tober 22, 1955. It easily ex-ceeded the speed of sound on its first flight The F-105G was the designation given to Wild Weasel F-105Fs which were fitted with greatly im-proved avionics.

Originally a British design (1949) The earliest concept was as a high altitude radar reconnais-sance-bomber, yet because of its sound design, it also became a very effective low altitude ground support aircraft. The RB-57A (Martin Model 272A) was a reconnaissance version of the B-57A bomber. The decision to develop a reconnaissance ver-sion of the B-57A was made in October of 1951, guided by ex-perience in the Korean War. The B-57 became the enduring workhorse among combat air-craft. The basic airframe design of the B-57 was in continuous service for over 30 years. It re-

F-105 Thunderchief cont. The F-105G was acquired from the US Army Proving Grounds in Aberdeen Maryland. The plane was transported via MD Rt. 40 to Strawberry Point by flatbed truck. Thanks to a grant from Lockheed Martin, and the dedication of mu-seum volunteers, the F-105G was refinished in It’s original Vietnam War configuration and colors. A party was held at the Lockheed Martin Corp. Executive Jet Han-gar to reunite the F-105G with its Vietnam War Pilot, USAF Lt.Col. Don Carson.