Nationality British Name James Martin Citizenship United Kingdom Role Engineer | Occupation Engineer Died January 5, 1981 Spouse(s) Jackie Breen | |
Born 11 September 1893 ( 1893-09-11 ) Crossgar, County Down, Ireland Known for Inventor of the ejector seat and founder of the Martin-Baker aircraft company | ||
Organizations founded Martin-Baker | ||
Sir James Martin CBE DSc CEng FIMechE FRAeS (11 September 1893 – 5 January 1981) was a Northern Irish engineer whom together with Captain Valentine Baker founded the Martin-Baker aircraft company which is now a leading producer of aircraft ejection seats.
Contents
Life
James Martin was born 11 September 1893 in Glasswater Road, Crossgar, County Down in Ireland, and later 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.
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.