Martin Baker MB4

[Merv_P]

I've put together a 3-view of the MB4, a Martin Baker aircraft that was designed but never built. The only picture I've seen is thumbnail-sized, but what there is looks exactly like a halfway-stage between the 3 and the 5, and I've drawn it as such.

The main source is an old 'Air Enthusiast' article on the MB5. I can't claim pinpoint accuracy, but I think the general shape is right.

Looking at the performance and size figures of the other two aircraft, I'd imagine we've got a Tempest-class flighter here.

See what you think.

 

[Justo Miranda]

additional info

 

[Merv_P]

Thanks, Justo; I didn't know that there was a Centaurus variant of the MB 4.

 

[Apophenia]

Justo, are the MB sideviews from Wings of Fame Vol 9?

On the MB.4, the Centaurus was a backup for the Griffon. As such, could we not expect the MB.4 to be something of a halfway house between the unbuilt 'bubble canopy' MB.3 and the MB.5?

 

[Justo Miranda]

Justo, are the MB sideviews from Wings of Fame Vol 9?

Yes!

 

[Merv_P]

Here's the thumbnail (from Wikipedia) I used; I hadn't seen the drawings from Wings of Fame until now.

 

[Apophenia]

Justo: thanks

Merv: that Wikipedia image isn't the MB.4. It is from Dennis Punnett's 1961 3-view of the MB.3 (back when it was still believed that the MB.3 prototype had been converted to a bubble canopy before crashing.

That drawing appears in William Green's War Planes of the Second World War: Fighter Vol 2 (p.87) along with a retouched photo purporting to show the MB.3 prototype with that bubble canopy slid back.

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Original MB.4 drawing via Phil Butler and Tony Buttler.

 

[Apophenia]

Wow ... thanks Paul!

 

[hesham]

From Le Fana 503.