The Art and Science of Aviation

It was natural that one would want to work for Glenn L. Martin

by David B.

  

At the Glenn L. Martin Company in Middle River Maryland, in 1951, Mr. E. E. (Pete) Clark, the chief of aerodynamics, interviewed me for several hours, including lunch and afterwards. We agreed I should work there. It was the gift of a lifetime! Mr. Clark found out that I had built model airplanes all my life and had worked at a grass strip airport covering wings, welding and riveting, repairing, inspecting and modifying light planes. He found out, too, that I had earned a Bachelor of Science at Virginia Polytechnic Institute in aeronautical engineering. I had graduated with honors, and was placed number one in the class. I felt lucky to be hired.

Starting on August 2, 1951, the company assigned me to the Canberra project in the aerodynamics group. Joe Burghardt was the project engineer and Howard E. (Howie) Schick was in charge of stability and control, so I sat next to him. The English Electric Company had earlier delivered three Canberra aircraft to be used at Martin, and we still had WD932 and WD940, in the effort to turn it into the United States Air Force B-57. It required not just changing skin gauges and rivet sizes, but meeting MIL-SPEC-F-8785 ASG, the flying quality spec for piloted aircraft. It was said, at the time, that this was something to do with the balance of payments abroad, having to do with the war. This was hard to swallow, as we still had a Martin XB-S1 on the field, a really advanced aircraft with swept wings, two pod-mounted jet engines, a high T-tail, bicycle landing gear and other features to make it a really high-speed bomber. Later, it became clear that the Canberra had the greatest ratio of low speed to high speed of anything in the inventory, and this became increasingly important as we improved the high subsonic capability in flight test and then were invited to build a special purpose high-altitude variant. Wing Commander W. E. W. Petter had designed a beautifully streamlined, low-drag airframe with lightweight structure. He had chosen the equivalent of a NACA 0012 airfoil, inboard, which had plenty of room for deep spars but also avoided the early Mach problems over the upper surface of cambered airfoils. Contributing to low weight, he had avoided hydraulics on the controls, and used geared and spring tabs on the ailerons, elevator and rudder. All of this later enabled us to use the aircraft in a special high altitude variant—the BS7D.

These are my first memories at Martin. Thank you!

The Martin B-57 Canberra

Before Pearl Harbor

We found my father’s original badge and an uncashed check

by Susan Ross McN.

From the early to the present-day Lockheed Martin, the company has been a part of our family. Walter, my father, started working for the Glenn L. Martin Company in 1940, and the company employed him until he retired in 1982. After his death, we discovered his original Martin "star" badge and an uncashed payroll check for ten cents. We donated these items, as well as some other Martin memorabilia, to the Glenn L. Martin Maryland Aviation Museum in Baltimore..

Following my graduation from Kenwood High School in 1955, I was employed in the nuclear division and later in the presentations department. My husband, James, started working for the company in 1956 in the nuclear division. His employment continued on and off, until his retirement in 1994. We are both proud to be associated with Lockheed Martin.

We donated my father's "star" badge to the museum.

I Was One of Five

We found the perfect location for the new Martin plant

by Robert B.

I began my employment in 1954 at the Glenn L. Martin Company in Middle River, Maryland. The company decided to expand our division to Denver, Colorado, to build the Titan vehicle. I was one of five chosen to go to Denver to select and purchase land for the new facility. We operated for months out of hotels and downtown office buildings while the facility was being built. The number of employees was growing. The site we selected was perfect, as it was in a canyon that muted the noise when the engines for the launch vehicles were fired. After taking early retirement from Martin Marietta, I join Toyota Motor Sales, USA, and retired as a group vice president and corporate officer for United States operations.

Postcard Memories

My parents began their careers in 1951

by Sheila H.

My name is Sheila. My parents Clyde and Marjorie were both employed by Martin Marietta for many years. They began their careers in 1951 at the Glenn L. Martin Company in Baltimore, Maryland. They both worked in the electronics department building the P6M SeaMaster and the P5M Marlin. In 1961, Martin Marietta opened a new plant in Orlando, Florida. My father was transferred to Orlando that same year. My mother was rehired a couple of years later. They both worked on the Pershing and Patriot missile programs. They both retired and were able to enjoy many happy and healthy years together. My father passed away in 2007 at 87 years old. My mother will turn 85 in a few months.

Glenn L. Martin Company, Baltimore, Maryland

After Martin Marietta

I’m still part of an important “club”

by Helen T.

I started working at the Glenn L. Martin Company in 1946 at Stansbury Manor, typing deeds and mortgages as the Aero Acres homes were sold. In 30 years, I had many bosses, including. Frank Vitek, Bill German, Bill Dietz, Bill Keimig, Andy Trost and Tim Hughes.

I was married twice. Ray Popp, my first husband, worked at Martin. We fell in love and were married in 1953. Ray was later laid off and went to work at Bethlehem Steel at Sparrows Point. I took early retirement in 1976, and we moved to Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Ray passed away in 1991, and I sold my home and moved back to Baltimore, joining RAMMs. Who should be at my first meeting but my old boss, Andy Trost. Again love bloomed, and we were married in 1993. We enjoyed visits to Andy's condo at Rehoboth Beach until his death in 2000. There must be something about those Martin men! I again found love with Bill Heinefield, a Martin retiree and secretary of RAMMs. We were inseparable for a year before his sudden death of a stroke in 2009.

I’ve been called the RAMMS cake lady. I bake two black walnut cakes, to be door prizes, at our RAMM dances, and two for our cake auction at our picnic. I am a regular “stuffer” for our monthly newsletter, and although I had to give up driving, I still found a way to attend RAMM meetings. I want to thank everyone for the generosity and support you've shown over the years!

I typed Aero Acres deeds and mortgages.

Middle River Ingenuity

We were awarded a patent for an underwater ramjet

by Harold O.

It has been 40 years since I left Martin Marietta in Middle River, Maryland. where I had spent 18 years (from 1955 to 1973). I worked with two wonderful bosses during those years—William (Bill) Grey and Charlie Schell. Bill was my supervisor during the time I worked as an engineer performing jet engine performance calculations. At the time, Martin was competing on a contract with the Air Force for a new fighter/bomber. The company’s unique approach was to use water injection to increase thrust. Right after the announcement that we won, all the workers on the project were on a “high.” We were invited to a celebration party. Soon after this party the plant went on a short holiday, and when we returned we got the bad news that the contract had been cancelled. What a disappointment!

I was transferred to R&D where I worked on two interesting projects. They were calculating the heat transfer for the lunar drill, the drill that was used on the Moon and the research for an underwater ramjet, which I named “Marjet.” Charlie and l were awarded a patent (3171379 Hydro-Pneumatic Ramjet). Martin was awarded a Navy contract.

I left Martin Marietta in 1973 and went to work for Naval Air System Command (NASC) in Washington, D. C. At nearly 90, I am happily pursuing my hobby of coin collecting and keeping active by trying to help my bowling team (Hawks) win.

An Amazing Era for Aviation

Middle River was the place to be

by Stephen T.

I was employed at Middle River in Baltimore, beginning in the late 1950s, when aircraft were still vital there. I met and interacted with several aeronautical experts imported from Germany—unlike the more well-known examples of imported rocket experts in Alabama. No unpleasant hints from the past ever arose. For the record, they were Hans Multhopp, Peter Jordan, Fritz Vandrey and Ingeborg Ginzel.

Mr. Multhopp probably made the biggest impact as a designer, since he brought proven skills and experience from German fighters. Notable was the use of T-tails. These now made their appearance in innovative military aircraft built in Baltimore, but were never bought.

I saw a wood mock-up of a proposed close-ground support flying tank. The production contract went elsewhere. Today, the Maryland National Guard flies essentially the same aircraft from the Middle River Airport. It is known as the Warthog.

The Best Lineup in Sports and Aerospace

The Martin Bombers carried us forward

by Donald P.

My story is about the Martin Bomber sports teams in Baltimore in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Glenn L Martin was a very sports-minded person. He sponsored nationally competitive baseball, basketball and softball teams in Baltimore. Mr. Martin hired athletes to play, and they established careers with the company. Several players eventually assumed significant managerial positions, including baseball pitcher Dick Weber, who became a vice president of industrial relations, and basketball player and coach, Don Parsons, who became a director of human resources. Many others were respected contributors in a variety of departments. 

Dr. George McLaren and close confidant of Mr. Martin, headed all Bomber activities, as well as intra-company leagues, company picnics and an annual family day at one of the local theme parks.

The baseball Bombers consisted of a number of ex-minor league players, such as Charlie Johnson, from the Detroit Tiger organization, and Irv Hall, from the Philadelphia Athletics farm system. They competed throughout Maryland against other amateur teams and annually participated in the AAABA (All American Amateur Baseball Association) Tournament in Zanesville, Ohio, winning it several times.

The basketball Bombers recruited several college players, beat most industrial teams on the East Coast when industrial basketball was second only to the fledgling NBA. Only military camps, loaded with ex-pro and college stars, (Ft. Meade, Quantico Marine Base, Bainbridge Naval Station).

It was a culture that no longer exists, one which provided pleasure and opportunity to many!

From the Sea to the Sky

My father and I share the heritage

by Thomas O’B.

My father, Kenneth, originally started with the Glenn L. Martin Company in the 1940s, I believe. He graduated from college with an aeronautical engineering degree, and worked on the seaplanes in Baltimore, Maryland. In 1959, he was transferred to the Waterton facility in Colorado and started working on the Titan rockets. He ultimately was asked to take an early retirement in 1975 after completing Mission Success work on the Viking program that went to the planet Mars. I worked for Martin Marietta in the procurement department until I was laid off in 1990, before the company became Lockheed Martin. I would love to somehow come back and work my last working days at Lockheed Martin.

I Was a Riveter at “Boy’s Town”

I still have my first pay envelope

by George S.

I started work as a riveter on March 25, 1941, at the Glenn L. Martin Company in Middle River, Maryland, at 50 cents an hour. The company was affectionately called “Boy’s Town” due to the youth of the men working in this new field of aviation. I still have my first pay envelope, in which cash was the method of weekly payment. I worked on the first B-26 Marauders (except for a short break in the United States Army). I met Glenn L. and his mother, Minta, when she christened the “Martin Mars” flying boat in November 1942. Mr. Martin, an avid sports fan, built a baseball field in front of the engineering building and would watch as other employees and I played baseball. After my release from the service, I again worked on the B-26B and, later, the B-57 Canberra Bomber. I was promoted to supervision during this time. In 1960, I transferred to the Denver division. After many years working on Titan missiles, Skylab projects, and supporting launches at Vandenberg Air Force Base and in Florida, I retired in 1988. Now age 90, I’ve enjoyed 25 years of retirement, and retain fond memories of my experiences with the company. I have enjoyed many travels with my wife of 64 years, in great part due to the benefits provided by the company. My wife passed on in 2010, but I continue to enjoy sharing my memories with others. I could not have selected a better company for which to work. Many thanks.

A World War II Recruiting Poster

My Dad Began His Martin Career in 1939

At 95, he is proud to look back at wonderful memories

by James G.

My dad, Jim, turned 95 on Christmas Eve 2012! He began his career at the Glenn L. Martin Company in June 1939. Prior to his being drafted into the Army, he worked in manufacturing. He riveted aircraft frames and installed pilot controls and electrical systems. After World War II, he completed his degree at John Hopkins University and became an industrial engineer at the Martin facility in Essex, Maryland.

In 1962, he transferred to Denver as a chief industrial engineer, and he was part of the team that constructed and installed the Titan I and II sites throughout the United States. My dad always talks about the company parties when steamed crabs were shipped in from Baltimore. It was a heavenly treat for all of the employees, especially for the ones who used to live in Maryland!

During his time at the Baltimore and Denver plants, he fondly remembers playing in the company golf league and the softball team dubbed the “Martin Bombers.” During those years, the camaraderie and teamwork was fantastic, and he made lifelong friends with his fellow workers. From 1978 until his retirement in 1982, he worked at the Michoud plant in Louisiana, where the external fuel tanks for the NASA Space Shuttle were manufactured.

Lockheed Martin has been a big part of his life and he is proud to be part of the greatest team that manufactured defense and space vehicles which made our nation strong.

Thanks Dad! You are the Greatest Generation!

Rising through the Ranks

My story begins just after World War II

by Gerald S.

My story may be unique. I started my career working for the Glenn L. Martin Company in Essex, Maryland (C Building basement) in the fall of 1948 as a junior laboratory technician. I earned $1.45 per hour and was part of a group that designed one of the first United States electronic missile guidance systems. It was called the Oriol project. I left after two years to pursue my professional career.

About 10 years later, in 1961, I joined Lockheed Missile and Space Company as an engineering manager on the Agena program. Two years later, I was promoted and transferred to run a division of Lockheed Electronics Company. In 1969, I was again promoted to become president of the Lockheed Electronics Company and a corporate vice president of Lockheed.

What is unique is that I started with Martin, one member of the merged companies, at the bottom of the ladder. Twenty years later, I became a vice president of Lockheed, the other member of the merged companies.

One career path that involved two companies that in turn became one, gives me a strong sense of loyalty and pride in Lockheed Martin.

Fourth-Generation Lockheed Martin Family

Our history here begins in 1928

by William K.

Our family has a combined 74-year four-generation history! In 1928, my grandfather, Robert, immigrated to the United States from Germany. He was a skilled machinist and he found work at the Glenn L. Martin Aircraft Company in Baltimore, Maryland. He worked there until his retirement in 1951. His son, my father (William O.), immigrated to the United States the year after my grandfather. He worked for Martin throughout World War II as a tool and die maker.

In 1969, I received a doctorate in electronic physics from Boston College and started my career at the Light Military Electronics Department at GE in Utica, New York. I had a variety of challenging and interesting research and development projects. I stayed at Utica for 22 years through the sales to Martin Marietta and Lockheed Martin. (We were encouraged to call them “mergers!”) In 1992, I took a “temporary” assignment at Naval Systems (an RCA heritage Company) in Moorestown, New Jersey.  This assignment stretched out to be 12 years. I took early retirement in 2004 after amassing 600,000 miles during my commutes. My only regret is that the nature of my work precluded publishing results and applying for patents.

Meanwhile, my daughter, Melissa, is now a senior software engineer. Her husband, Wayne, is  a software engineering manager. Both work at Lockheed Martin.

Capturing the Title

I won the Glenn L. Martin Silver Cup in Boxing 

by Gary F.

My story goes back to 1947 and concerns Glenn L. Martin and the facility at Middle River, Maryland. Mr. Martin was an avid sports fan and encouraged participation in all sports. I was only 16-years-old at the time and won the Maryland State Bantamweight Boxing Championship when I defeated highly favored Pete Garibito of the United States Army. I was voted the outstanding boxer of the tournament and received the Glenn L. Martin Silver Cup (which I still have).

 I went on to the University of Maryland and then on to graduate school at Central Missouri State University earning master’s degree in safety. I joined Martin Marietta Aluminum in Oregon as a safety manager and was later transferred back to my roots in the Baltimore area working as safety manager at the Middle River aerospace plant. I had that Glenn L. Martin silver cup on my desk until I retired.

 A photo of me at my desk with that silver cup was featured in the company newsletter. I was also the Martin Marietta Management Club president for one year.

It’s about Perception

As a young boy, I saw how innovation would change our world

by Mark Z.

I remember, at about five or six years old, going to Martin Marietta to see the Gemini space rocket that was built in the facility in Middle River, Maryland. My father, Tony “Z,” was the manager of the “tool room,” and they were building this huge spaceship that would take men into outer space.

Dad had started at Martin back in 1939, right out of high school. He worked his way through the ranks during World War II and the Cold War. He joked that my mother, Helen, an executive secretary for one of the major competitors, made more money than he did as a manager. He had quite the sense of humor!

I started working at Martin Marietta just after college, back in 1980. I was one of the youngsters, and there were “older” people in their 50s and 60s. At least that was my thinking at the time. They were good people who were willing to share and teach you. Sometimes they would play practical jokes on the new guys, asking for a left-handed wrench or other items that didn’t really exist.

Aviation Is in My DNA

We grew up in the Martin culture

by Joe W.

My father retired from Martin Marietta long ago. I grew up in a community called Essex, Maryland, that was almost a company town. The streets in the Aero Acres community near the plant were named after aircraft parts. When Dad was graduating from high school in 1929, he heard of job opportunities at the Glenn L. Martin Company. After he passed away, I found a letter he had written before graduating from high school saying that he had satisfied all his academic requirements and could start work in May if hired. Martin did hire him just before they opened the Middle River plant, and he worked his entire career there. We attended family days over the years and were excited to climb into cockpits of Martin aircraft. We grew up with pictures of Martin aircraft on our bedroom walls. My last memories when he worked there included an exciting transition to the space program. It was nostalgic for me when I went to work at Lockheed Martin in 2000.

Rocketing into the Information Age

I was at the right place, at the right time

by Ralph G.

After graduating from the University of Florida in 1953, I went to work for the Glenn L. Martin Company in Baltimore, Maryland. Mr. Martin was still alive at the time. For the next four years, I worked on a variety of missile projects, including the MGM-1 Matador, the P5M Marlin, the P6M SeaMaster, the Titan and the MGM-18 Lacrosse. It was Lacrosse that brought me back to Florida to help open a new facility in Orlando in 1957.

A year later, the company acquired a new digital computer (wow, it was big). I was transferred for a “minimum of one year” to be a computer programmer. That year turned out to be 30 years, and my duties grew. During that time, computers became more prominent, a new part of the company was formed, and I was one of the earliest employees of Data Systems. Those 30 years resulted in a completely new part of my education. The company name changed from the Glenn L. Martin Company to the Martin Company and then to Martin Marietta. Progress was made, and for 35 years, I was a small part of that.

Chronicling a 70-Year History

My father was hired by Glenn L. Martin in the 1920s

by Lee S.

My father, Paul. L. Snowberger, was hired by Glenn L. Martin in the mid-1920s as an aero-engineer at the factory plant in Cleveland Ohio. In those days, engineers, my father included, "followed the work" to other airplane companies, including among several others, the Lockheed plant in California.

Eventually my father returned to the East Coast with the Glenn L. Martin Company again, this time in Middle River, Maryland. He was assigned to the B-26 Marauder program, and was responsible for turret design and systems support, obtaining a patent for the oscillating oxygen and communications connectivity. He spent a good bit of time at Omaha's Offutt AAF Base during World War II, while his family (and I) remained in Baltimore. (I was also later assigned in the 1960s to Offutt as a USAF officer at SAC Headquarters.)

Dad remained with Martin through 1949. We then we moved to Seattle, where he worked on the Boeing SST program, and later on the Boeing 747 cargo floor handling system. He retired from Boeing for health reasons in the mid-1960s.

After my 24 years in the USAF, I retired as a Lieutenant Colonel and joined Martin Marietta supporting a systems engineering program at Denver and later the FAA as an engineer with the Systems Engineering Integration Contract program. I retired from Martin Marietta in 1993.

Dad was responsible for the Marauder's turret design..

A “Ghost” from Martin Marietta’s Past

I learned so much about my grandfather that day 

by John S.

During the war years, my grandfather, Frank J. Stankis, managed the Glenn L. Martin sheet metal plant in Baltimore, Maryland. Family albums show my grandmother and grandfather seated with Mr. Martin and Minta Martin at important company functions. Even before I went to work for Martin Marietta in 1980, I as keenly aware of the Martin Company. My father once said, “It’s been awhile since Dad worked for Mr. Martin, but perhaps someday you’ll see a ghost.”

That day arrived. In 1983, I received a telephone call from Dabby Dabkowski. Dabby, retiring after 47 years with Martin Marietta, asked me if I knew that Stankis was a famous name in the company’s history. I replied that I did know. Dabby then recounted that my grandfather had given him his first job on the Mars program, molding sheet metal. I always enjoy telling this story.

It was wartime and jobs were scarce. Dabby spoke of an exchange he had with my grandfather. Dabby remembered, “One day, I was hammering away and I noticed, out of the corner of my eye, that Frank was watching me. I was nervous, but I didn’t miss a stroke. In those days, if you messed up, you were immediately replaced. There was no time to break even for a Coca-Cola."

My grandfather asked, “How are you doing, son?” Dabby replied that he was fine. Granddad said, “Good, but I want to see more light between you and the workbench.”

Yes, it was a glimpse of the ghost my father had talked about!

Eyewitness to the Race to Space

My first and only job became the most amazing career

by Anthony A.

After college graduation in 1957 from the University of Scranton, I took my first and only job with the Glen L Martin Company in Middle River, Maryland. Initially, I worked on the Mace missile program. Later, I traveled to the Marshall Islands on the PRIME lifting-body spacecraft program where we air-recovered the spacecraft. I returned to Middle River and was assigned in 1967 to open an office in Huntsville, Alabama. There, we worked on both the Gemini and Space Shuttle programs. I retired in Huntsville in 1993. It was a wonderful and exciting career!