June 1993 - Glenn L. Martin Maryland Aviation Museum

The Glenn L. Martin Aviation Museum
June, 1993
Volume 2, Number 1
Museum Grand Opening!
On June 11th at 1:00 PM, a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony commencing the
Grand Opening of our Museum Facility will be held at Martin State Airport
outside of hangar #5. Only members, their families, and invited guests are
permitted to attend. Please come and support the Ceremony. Let's show that
we are one of the finest aviation museums in Maryland. Open to all members
will be: the Museum Display Room (#115), Museum Storage Rooms, the
Hospitality Room (#119), and restored aircraft displayed on the Airport's
tarmac. The Museum will be open from 1:00PM to 5:00PM.
On June 12th the Museum again will be open 1 to 5 PM, but this time to
the general public, free of charge. The Museum Display Room and Martin
aircraft (such as the B-57) will be accessible. This will be our first "Open to
the Public" day, followed by many more to come.
So far there has been a very positive response from our invited V.I.P.
guests. The dignitaries include many political and community representatives from Baltimore County and the State of Maryland. Local business
identities involved are: Martin Marietta Corporate Offices, Aero & Naval
Systems, Westinghouse, Crown Central, and Langenfelder Construction Co.
About 150 special invitations were sent out with self addressed R.S. V.P cards
and so far dozens of these cards have been dropped into our P.O. box.
If you would like to assist in the Opening Day activities, call Gene DiGennero at 410-282-5203.
page 1
Restoration Committee Update
IN THIS ISSUE:
Museum Grand Opening .................. page 1
Museum Update............................... page 2
Membership News............................page 3
Archive Report.................................. page 3
A Tribute toMr. Fuzz Furman.......................... page 4
Museum Update
Display Room Committee
In February of this year, the Museum recovered a quantity
ofB-57 items, and will use them in our second B-57 restoration project now under way. Lou CarlettJ and Bob Scott
have taken on the task of restoring the wing tip tanks from
our completed B-57. Restoration meetings have been held
at the B-57's on Strawberry Point on Thursdays at 6:00 PM.
Last year we bad a good and safe time, so let's do it again
this
year.
Everyone is invited to help. lf
you would like to
join the committee, just contact
Gene DiGennar o.
If you're not inclin ed to hel p,
stop by and visit.
Your interest will
be greatly appreciated.
Steady progress continues on our . J?isplay Mu.seum.
There was a bit of a lull between Thanksgtvmg and Chnstmas
as would be expected but we got back on track right after the
holidays.
As of this writing (early May), all of the planned waU
displays and cabinets have been constructed and installed.
We have finalized the layout of our wall displays and have
begun fabricating the large graphics for them, inclu.ding a
dramatic and colorful arrangement of all 126 Martm Star
cov~rs. We are making final selection on photos for display
and have received the protective sleeves to mount them in.
Several original Martin paintings have been hung and we're
selecting artifacts for the display cases. AJso, thanks go out
to Ollie Williams for loaning to the Museum his impressive
band-made Martin company logo, which was attached on the
rear wall.
The Board has selected the eleventh of June as the date
for our Grand Opening and although we continue to make
good progress there is still a lot to complete. As in the past
we continue to have great support from our volunteers and
we are confident that the deadline will be met. The room
committee currently meets on Thursdays after 3:00 PM and
we expect that one or more other work days will be added as
the opening day approaches. Announcements on. added
work periods will be made at each Thursday meetmg. lf
you're interested in helping out just let us know at the next
meeting.
682-8800.
Needed: 4-0-4 Flight Manuals
New Phone Number
Some items that we are especially looking for, either by
loan or donation, are flight and maintenance manuals for the
Eastern Airlines version
_ _ __.,._ _ _ _:-= 4-0-t This information
The Museum now employs the use of a new phone number and answering machine. The number is: 410-682-61~.
With the impending opening of our Display Room, there 1S
a greater necessity of an answering machine to t~e ca~s
from any news services and other media. The machine will
be checked several times on a daily basis, and messages can
even be obtained from an outside phone.
1
•;;tl
1-----------=--=-.A.~~~
will . ~elp. us g.et more
familiar wtth this type of
~~
·oS¥~:~~ ~:~~~~ ~=~:~:~~
---ei" ..,~::_- ~ j
~::::::=w;;:::::j·~
ttmore, we would hke
proper manuals to best
take care of the
airplane.
Docent Program
With the opening ofour Museum close at hand, the Board
of Directors would like to solicit the membership of volunteers to serve as tour guides and museum docents. We plan
to have regular hours of operation, preferably on weekends,
and at other times by special request. We have a. need f~r 5
to 10 people who would be willing to share the duues ?fbemg
responsible for opening-and closing the Museum, taking~
of museum sales, accepting donations and generally bemg
receptive to our guests. It would be great if someone would
come forward and be willing to serve as coordinator for the
docent program. We don't expect that this job would be too
involved as long as we have enough dedicat~d vol~nteers to
even out the work load. lf you're interested m helpmg us out
in either capacity, please let us know as soon as possible as
time is running short and we'd like to have thts program
ready by the time of opening.
.
There are also part-time tour guide positions avrulable
through Martin State Airport. Share your enthusiasm ~d
knowledge about aviation history at The ~lenn L.. Marltn
Company with school children. For more mformauon, caU
Newsletter Logo
To coincide with our Museum openjng, the Board feels
that a facelift of our newsletter would be in order. At this
time we will entertain suggestions on an appropriate name
and logo for our front page. Your sketch or title should
pagel
reflect the origins, purpose and direction of our organization
and should preferably employee lhe use of the Martin Star
logo. We currently don't have the ability to use multi-color
offset printing due to cost but don't let that affect your design
as this wiU come in the future. Please have your submission
ready as soon as possible so the Board can make a quick
review of the entries and implement a change.
We realize that the newsletter has not been published as
timely as we would like. This is due to many factors but we
hope that after our museum opening we can devote more
time to improving our basic services to the membership. We
are sorely in need of someone to manage the publishing of
our quarterly newsletter. We don' t expect that they would
have to do any writing, just oversee the submitting of articles
from the various committees and interface with our editor
and membership chairman. Members of the Board and
other volunteers are getting spread pretty thin and we really
need new help in order to grow.
Membership News
Status
As of late April, there are well over 280 supporting members of the G lenn L. Martin Aviation Museum. In comparison to last year, that's an increase of roughly seventy
percent!
We are still looking for ways to contact prospective members. Of course, publicity surrounding the opening of the
Museum Display Room should increase active membership.
lo lhe meantime please ask any friends or family if they would
be interested in joining. The Museum desperately needs
support in setting up the display facilities by June 11th, as
well as aircraft restoration and financial endorsement. Pick
up an application at any of the meetings or contact the
membership committee. Also, for existing participants,
please consider upgrading your current membership level.
Those extra few dollars mean alot.
Renewal Information
Many people have asked about when their membership
renewal is due, when dol pay, and so forth. To simplify this
process for members, we have instituted a di!fereDl system
effective immediately, and it is very simple. Since the memberships are annual (with lhe exception of the life membership level), your renewal is due one (1) year from the date
you joined. Your anniversary date (along with your personal
1.0. Number) wiJJ be printed on the bottom of the mailing
label on the newsletter or any other correspondence from
the Museum. The new system should work out better and
with less confusion than in the past. Also, beginning this
year, the lower two membership levels have been increased
by S5.00.
Archive Report
Status
We continue to receive valuable items for our Museum
and we will attempt to acknowledge as many of the donations
as space allows. Our new database computer system has
been installed through the efforts of George Fallon. He has
done a remarkable job, and even put together an operation
manual. If you would be interested in helping with compiling
and organizing our holdings please let us know.
We have committees that are working separately on organizing the engineering prints and the movie film that have
been acquired. Ollie a nd Emily Willia ms have started
separating the drawings and they meet during our normal
Thursday work schedule. The movie fJ.lm committee is
headed by Harry Mettee and at present they have been
working on numericalJy identifying all the movies in relation
to the master list that accompanied the fU.m. We expect to
have an archival type movie viewer on site shortly and that
will allow us to safely view and review all the film. We also
have a number of 3/4 inch videos that we need a player for.
If someone has access to one that could be borrowed for a
short period of time we would be very grateful
Recent donations include a large coUection of technical
manuals and photos from former Martin pilot, Bill Compton. Bill started flying for Martin's in the early 1950's.
Starting in Flight Test, be flew Marlins and B-57's and later
went on to serve as Aight Test Engineer on the SeaMastcr
program. He was on the P6M's #2 prototype on it's last
night and successfully ejected with the rest of the crew. He
kept his emergency chute and has been kind enough to put
it on loan to us. Thanks again Bill for aJJ your help.
Another item put on loan to us recently is an original oil
painting of the PBM-1 done by noted artist Cha rles Hullllell.
This particular painting was used of the rear cover of the first
Martin Star magazine. Mrs. J eanette Herrold bas been kind
enough to put this painting on indefmite loan to us and we
are pleased to have it on display in our Museum.
We have also received five other original Martin oil paintings courtesy of the New England Air Museum. They were
excess to their needs and we are delighted that they have
retu.rned home for display in our Museum. Thanks go out
to tbe New England Air Museum and to Hank Lappa for
taking the time to go up to Connecticut and pick them up.
Research Program
Archive Director
S t a n Piet has announced the start of
the first official
Museum Research
Program designed to
preserve the history of
a particular Martin
product. Stan has
chosen the P6M SeaMaster as the topic as
it represents both the
. epitome and unforSirown above are tile only remams t unately the end of
of a Navy P6M SeaMaster.
military flying boat
production in this country. He has already started interviewing people involved with the project and collecting artifacts
and photos. He is still in need of talking with anyone involved in the design, manufacture, and night test of this
magnificent aircraft. We hope thatlhis program will lead to
page3
the publishing of a book on the research and Stan would
appreciate any help on the subject.
William B. Ha rwood, retired Vice President of Public Affairs of, and now consultant to, the Martin Marietta Corporation.
Prints Committee
After some delay in moving the last few pallets of drawings from the C-Basement vault at Martin Marietta, we can A Tribute to One of Aviation's Real Profesfinally announce that the first phase of our Ora,ving Presen- sionals
Lalion Program is complete. Although we completed our
by William Harwood
work in the vault by the end of September, it took quite a
while to arrange transporting everything to the Federal
Francis 0. {Fuzz) Furman's life spanned the 84-year
Depot. Thanks to new member Bill Heavrin for the use of history of The Glenn L. Martin Company (today's Martin
his lift gate truck and his time in delivering the last of the Marietta Corporation), where he spent 37 years, beginning
d ra\vings. And again special thanks to Norm Bodani, in 1933, working on virtually every airplane, missile, and
manager at the Federal Depot, for his continued support of space launch vehicle the Company built until he retired in
our efforts.
1970.
At this point we have only a vague idea as to the number
He was a 24-year·old Navy machinist at Anacostia Naval
of drawings recovered. A rough guess would be in excess of Air Station, Washington, when hired by Martin as an "as10,000 separate pieces. We would expect that it will take semblymall " on the B-lOB airplane, the Collier T rophy-winseveral years to completely go through this material and we ning bomber that was the Company's most famous airplane
welcome any help on this long term project.
up to that time. He also
helped build the China
At this time we would like to formaiJy thank the members Clippers, and later as a
of the prints committee:
Martin field repre- ..,c:;-•"
sentative, he took the BLeslie Plet
Art Long
10 to the Dutch East
Connie
SmiUa
Pat Norvell
Indies when the
Bob Scott
Gordon Siebold
Netherlands purchased
Ollie Davidson
Will Taylor
120 of the planes.
Dale Grimes
Ollie Williams
It was on J ava in 1937 that Fuzz met and ruded Amelia
Stan
Piet
Bob Krasnansky
Earhart when she landed for repairs on her attempt to fly
around the world. It was her next-to-last stop before she
disappeared in the wid-Pacific while trying to locate
Howland Island, a pinpoint equatorial atoll between New
A Tribute
Guinea and Hawaii. As one of the last persons to see the
famous flyer, Fuzz would have the opportunity many times
In Remembrance of Mr. Francis 0. (Fuzz) over tbe years to repeatedly tell writers of books and
magazine articles, movie makers and television types,
Furman
anyone who asked, that he did not think much of theories
by Bryan Williman
that the famous aviatrix had been shot down or captured by
As many of you know, F uzz passed away earlier this year. the Japanese. He srud her radio had inadequate range for
I personally met Fuzz about3 years ago, and over that period the accurate navigation required to locate tiny Howland
Island and that her
of time I came to know him pretty weU; developing a deep
airplane
had insuffirespect for, and personal relationship with, a man whom I
~i~
cient
fuel
reserves.
believe was one of Mr. Martin's most knowledgeable aircraft
;r,
a;;::-o:::::. "She just plain ran
people. Fuzz was an individual who would be presented with
VLi.~-"-='~out of gasoline,• he
a problem on an airplane, look at it, and provide a solution
flllllly
believed.
that would rectify the situation. Not everyone agreed with
On
his return to
him at the time, but eventually Fuzz was proven correct.
Baltimore,
Fuzz
worked
on
all
of
Martin's
World
War 11
I really enjoyed stopping at his home on occasion and
reliving with him some of his ups and downs and personal aircraft, including the A-22 Marylands, A-30 Baltimores, the
experiences of his work at Martin's. I had hoped that at least B-26 Marauders, and all the famous seaplanes from the
he would have been able to hear once more the unique and earliest PBM's to the giant Mars flying boats, the Marlins,
beaULiful sound ofthose Prall & Whitney R-2800's from the and the jet-powered P6M SeaMaster, as well as all the
Museum's coming 4-0-4, but this was not to be. I miss him postwar planes, including the carrier-based AM-1 Mauler,
very much and will continue to mourn the loss of a mao and the Navy's land-based P4M Mercator patrol bomber. the
a friend who had great knowledge of many things and events 2-0-2 and 4-0-4 commercial airliners, and the twin-engine
so dear to many of our hearts. Good bye, Fuzz! We will B-57 Air Force jet and reconnaissance bombers.
Even before the Company rolled out its last aircraft in
remember you!
1960, Fuzz had lead roles in the manufacture of the early
The following is a brief summary of Fuzz's career. It is an Martin missiles, with names like Oriole, Matador, Mace. the
excerpt from a soon to be published book authored by Mr. Gorgon IV, Bullpup, and Lacrosse. When rockets started
puge 4
reaching for the heavens. Fuzz worked on first Viking, then
Vanguard, then Titan.
When NASA chose The Glenn L. Martin Company to
build the rocket that would launch lhe two-man Gemini
spacecraft, Fuzz Furman was the logical choice to head up
manufacturing on the Gemini-Titan Launch Vehicle. As
such, he frequently was host to the original seven Mercury
astronauts and lhe succeeding Gemini astronauts. The
:~strooauts, from 1963 to 1966, made periodic inspection
visits to Middle River and Lhe Furman "Green Pod", a
restricted, specially surfaced and painted manufacturing
area of the plant. A Furman creation, the Green Pad was
where Fuzz carefully and lovingly directed the "mall-rating•
of Lhe booster rockets that would uoerroringly launch 10
pairs of astronauts into space in a period of only 20 months.
Fuzz ran his factory assignments without compromise,
brooking no interference from other departments, either
those supplying his production lines, or those waiting for the
finished item. His many cars in the field, as weU as io test
operations on the flight line, gave him remarkable insight
into the entire production process, and each of the systems
he touched benefited from his close auention to its quality
and performance.
asked as he was during his long and colorful career, and he
was just as outspoken.
It was during his assignment as manufacturing chief on
the Gemini-Titan Launch Vehicle, that Fuzz Furman one
day let out his frustration with newcomers to the manufacture of machines in which men were to Oy. Much as being
made of Lhe necessity of paying close attention to quality
control and man-rating, and a young NASA engineer was
pontificating on the fact that "men wiU be riding on this
rocket." Unable to contain himself any longer, Fuzz asked
in a foud voice, "Who do you think has been piloting all those
airplanes we built in the past 50 years? Monkeys'!'
The comment was vintage Furman. They don't hardly
make them anymore like Fuzz.
Fuzz was a tall, affable mao, blessed with a fantastic
memory, even into his early eighties and was frequently
called on to recount his experiences. In retirement, he was
as unstinting of his lime and attention to detail for all who
The NEWS BREAK Newsletter
June, 1993
Volume 2, Number 1
Contributing writers: Bryan WiWman
Stan Piet
G. DiGenncro, Sr.
William Har.vood
John Borleis
Editing and layout;
RogerS. Mason
Published quarterly by:
71re Gle1111 L. Mortifl Aviotio11 Museum
P.O. Box 5024 Middle River, MD 21220
The Glenn L. Martin Aviation Museum's NEWS BREAK Newsletter, October, 1992
The Glenn L Martin Aviation Museum
P.O. Box 5024
Middle River, Maryland 21220
Address Correction Requested
pageS
THE GtENN
L.
MARTIN AviATION M u sEu M
WELCOME TO THE OPENING CEREMONY
OF THE
GLENN L. MARTIN AVIATION MUSEUM
11th JUNE. 1993
e
INTRODUCTION
- Mr . G. OiG~nnaro
Museum Treasurer
•
INVOCATION
- The Reverend D. Erikson
The Watersedge Baptist Church
e
WELCOME ADDRESS
- Mr. A. Kamhi
Director of Public Affairs
Martin Marietta Corporation
e
STATE OF MO. RECOGNITION -
e
PRESIDENTS ADDRESS
- Mr. 8. Wil11man
Executive Director
The Glenn L. Martin Aviation Museum
e
RIBBON CUTTING CEREMONY
- Mr . B. Williman
Mr. A. Kamhi
Mr . T. Mathison
e
MUSEUM OPEN FOR VIEWING
POST OFFICE BOX 5024
•
Mr . T. Mathison
Administrator
State of Md . Aviation Admin .
MIDDLE RIVER, MARYLAND 21220