Martin MB-2

Payload chosen over speed

MB-2s participated in Billy Mitchell's well-known bombing demonstrations against ships. Those tests became part of a larger dispute over what aircraft could do, how accurately results should be interpreted, and how military organizations should divide resources among competing missions.

History & service

The Martin MB-2 was the first U.S.-designed bomber produced in large numbers. First ordered in June 1920, it replaced the handful of British Handley-Page O-400 and Italian Caproni bombers produced in the United States under license during World War I.

Derived from the MB-1 (or GMB) and designed as a night bomber, the MB-2 sacrificed speed and maneuverability to carry a heavy bomb load. Although more capable than the aircraft it replaced, the MB-2s design reflected conventional features of the time, such as an internal wood structure and fabric covering. It also used the same Liberty engines as previous U.S. Army Air Service bombers.

While the Glenn L. Martin Co. designed the aircraft, it built only the first 20 MB-2s. Under its contracting system, the Army Air Service purchased the design and assigned production to the lowest bidders, which were Curtiss (50 aircraft); Lowe, Willard and Fowler (35); and Aeromarine (25). At the same time, the Army Air Service changed the Martin designation to NBS-1 for Night Bomber Short range.

The MB-2 became the Air Service's primary multi-engine bomber until replaced by the Keystone bombers of the late 1920s. Today, no original MB-2 exists. The reproduction on display at the museum was built using original Martin drawings and completed in 2002.

The Martin MB-2 designers incorporated an interesting element -- folding wings. Since its large wingspan would have made it difficult to store in a hangar, the aircraft had hinges and notches cut out to allow the wings to be swung from just outside of the engine nacelles.

Details that tell the story

Ordered beginning in 1920 · Twin-engine night bomber · First U.S.-designed bomber produced in significant quantity · Used in interwar bombing demonstrations

A new invention becomes a public world

Before airplanes became routine transport, public demonstrations helped establish what they could do. Exhibition flights, races, and crossings placed fragile machines before crowds, officials, and potential customers. The audience saw courage and spectacle. Behind the spectacle were less visible questions about reliable engines, controllable wings, suitable landing grounds, and how to recover when the weather changed.

Different configurations competed at the same time. Some designers placed the propeller behind the pilot; others put it at the front. Biplanes used bracing to make light structures sufficiently rigid. Monoplanes reduced some of that external framework but posed their own structural and handling problems. Balloons and dirigibles remained part of the same aviation world, offering capabilities that early airplanes could not simply replace.

The famous firsts matter, but so does the period immediately after them. Flight schools, licensed manufacture, military trials, mechanics, and spare parts carried an invention outward. An aircraft could influence aviation through the pilots trained on it or the designs adapted from it, even after its own performance became outdated. The machines in Washington and Dayton preserve different points along that process. Their differences show how quickly an experimental achievement became an international industry, and how many people had to turn a remarkable flight into a repeatable service.