Martin Baker MB5

Martin-Baker Aircraft began the MB5 as the second Martin-Baker MB3 prototype, designed to Air Ministry Specification F.18/39 for an agile, sturdy Royal Air Force fighter, able to fly faster than 400 mph. After the first MB3 crashed in 1942, killing Val Baker, the second prototype was delayed. A modified MB3 with a Rolls-Royce Griffon was planned as the MB4, but a full redesign was chosen instead.

The redesigned aircraft, designated MB5, used wings similar to the MB3, but had an entirely new steel-tube fuselage. Power came from a Rolls-Royce Griffon 83 liquid-cooled V-12 engine, producing 2,340 hp (1,745 kW) and driving two three-bladed contra-rotating propellers. Armament was four 20 mm Hispano cannon, mounted in the wings outboard of the widely spaced retractable undercarriage. A key feature of the design was ease of manufacture and maintenance: much of the structure was box-like, favouring straight lines and simple conformation.

It was built under the same contract that covered the building of the MB.3. Neither the MB5 nor its predecessors ever entered production, despite what test pilots described as excellent performance.

Photographs of scale models of the Martin Baker MB5 can be found here.

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