NARRATIVE

Early in the Second World War, the U.S. Navy recognized the value of having one aircraft that could handle many different tasks. The Martin Mauler was designed to fulfill the Navy’s desire for a plane that could handle the fleet’s scout, bomber and torpedo requirements, functions previously performed by several aircraft. The Mauler was the only single-engine plane powered by the massive 3,000 hp Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major 28-cylinder radial engine. This engine, of “corn cob” design, with four rows of 7 cylinders each, was reputed to be a “mechanic’s nightmare.” An example of this extraordinary engine, the largest radial ever built, can be seen in the museum’s engine display area.

The Navy awarded both Douglas and Martin contracts to design and develop this type of aircraft and Martin wasted no time in getting their first prototype into the air in August 1944. This was the XBTM-1 (Experimental Bomber Torpedo Martin), a prodigious weightlifter with a maximum useful ordnance load of almost 11,000 lbs and a top speed of 367 mph. However, with testing, problems began to arise, and as development continued, it was apparent that many modifications would have to be made before full production began. The massive size of this single engine airplane made it more difficult to control and pilots experienced difficulties with landing the plane both on airfields and on carriers. In the end, all or most of the Mauler’s shortcomings were corrected and eventually Martin produced an attack aircraft that was, in some ways, superior in performance to their competitor’s Douglas AD-1 Skyraider. But the uncertain test program led the Navy to reduce the original order for Martin Maulers and to look more favorably to the Douglas Skyraider which was easier to fly and maintain. It was finally concluded that the Mauler’s suitability as a land or carrier based attack aircraft was marginal and production was terminated in favor of the Skyraider after only 151 Maulers were produced.

The museum is fortunate to have in its collection one of only four surviving Martin AM-1 Maulers. It was the eighteenth Mauler built and delivered to the Navy in August 1947. After serving at the Jacksonville, St. Louis and Norfolk Naval Air Stations, it was retired in February 1955 and transferred to the U.S. Army’s Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland. There it was used for weapons testing. In 1979 the Army donated it to the Bradley Air Museum in Windsor Locks, Connecticut and eleven years later it was acquired by the museum and restored to its present static condition.