In the late 1940's /
early 1950's there was intense competition between
the USAF and the US Navy for strategic missions and the associated
funding. Following the cancellation of a "super-carrier" the US Navy
issued a specification for a seaplane capable of carrying a large
offensive payload over a 1500 nm range.
Martin Aircraft was
chosen as the winning design over a Convair
proposal and awarded an initial order for two prototypes. The first of
two XP6M-1 aircraft first flew in 1955. Unfortunately both aircraft were
lost in accidents during flight testing.
A number of changes
were made to the basic design, and the first
YP6M-1 aircraft flew in 1958. A number of production aircraft had been
completed, a new version called the P6M-2 was under development,
the US Navy was undergoing operational conversion, when the
program was cancelled in 1959.
The role intended for
the aircraft was eventually performed by the
Polaris submarine launched strategic missile. All the Seamaster aircraft
completed were scrapped, and only some rear fuselage sections and
a couple of wing floats remain of a program which cost $400 million
1950's dollars.
The P6M was the last
aircraft design from the Martin company, which
abandoned this field to concentrate on missiles and electronics.
This CD contains the
flight manual for the first Martin XP6M-1. The CD
has been scanned from the original flight manual and retains any colour
pages.
This CD contains:
1.
US Navy Utility Flight Handbook for the Martin XP6M-1
model, Bu No 138822, Report CSR035 dated 1-5-56,
approx 204 pages.
| CD TITLE | P6M |
| PRICE | US$19.95 plus postage |
| POSTAGE AND ORDERING DETAILS |