Navy’s Biggest Mistake - Cancelling The Martin P6M SeaMaster

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In 1955 I graduated from UCONN School of Engineering and joined the Glenn L Martin company. My first assignment at GLM was the power plant engineering group on the P6M. I participated in the redesign of the engines to correct the problem of excessive temperature on the hull of the ship.

The SeaMaster has got to be one of the most good looking seaplanes, that never went into mass production in US aviation history.

Such a shame that this didn't succeed. These would have been great for long range SAR missions, and would have been easy to modify for fire fighting. I could even see these being used for jobs such as hurricane relief around coastal areas.

Meanwhile in the Soviet Union the Russians were testing similar concepts of flying boats with wing-mounted turbojets, which was handled by the Beriev bureau design. Imagine my shock a few years ago when I found out that there wasn't a single surviving P6M being displayed in an aviation museum, but the Beriev ones not only did but also flew regularly to this day in air shows and fire extinguishing missions. Today I found out that the P6M actually entered production as opposed to a shitton of other experimental post-war and cold war aircrafts, which makes it even sadder. This was, after all meant to be the Navy's B-52. Overall, thanks for providing yet another documentary of this fantastic aircraft!

Some books have such amazing concepts. I don't quite remember the year of publicity bit id guess they came out in 70s, such big plans people had for aviation.

Such a beautiful airplane. Sleek, fast, maneuverable and technologically innovative, the Seamaster was a beautiful plane. My father was a career naval aviator who started his aviation career in '42. In the early 50's, Dad was assigned to the Navy's Bureau of Aeronautics (now NavAir) and seconded to the P6M program. In appreciation for his work on the project, the Martin engineers gave my dad a souvenir that everyone working on the program wore: a tie-clasp of a P6M in silhouette. Next to his Annapolis class-ring, I think it fair to say that the tie-clasp was my father's next-most dearest position. On December 7, 1955, the first prototype crashed in the Chessie Bay (Martin's facilities were on the Bay just outside of Baltimore). Dad was supposed to be on that flight but was bumped by someone more senior. Now, the curious thing is, on December 7th, 1941, my Dad was serving as a gunnery officer on a light cruiser (the Phoenix, CL-46), which was moored at buoy C-5....in Pearl Harbor...about 1000 yards astern of the Arizona. Depending on how you look at it, that's two close calls my Dad had on two different December 7ths. Talk about leading a charmed life. Anyway, back to the tie-tack...I inherited it from my father when he died and now it sits with his sword, wings and flight jacket on display in my den.

That "versatility" of the SeaMaster disappeared in heavy seas. As good looking as the P6M was, the U.S. Navy's Poseidon submarines were military funds better spent for the ability to deliver nuclear weapons (missiles).

That animation is really satisfying, I could watch that aircraft fly in the rain for hours.

My father Cmdr William L. Murphy ,USNTPS class 20, was an assigned flight test pilot on this project. He did write an article for Naval Aviation News about his experience. Offhand I don't remember which issue( mid/late 1980s) regardless I love this plane always have , I grew up with one of the factory gift scale models given out ! Funny note : while I'd play with that my uncle would regale me with stories of the Convair ' Sea Dart' and how truly stunning that was just to see on the bay! Video on that one next,right?

A shame this plane was never brought into service. But it's understandable in retrospect when compared to ICBM carrying nuclear powered submarines

1:13 Found And Explained: "The last true flying boat, the Martin P6M Seamaster." Beriev Be-200: "Am I a joke to you?"

In the -50’s There was a cartoon strip called “Buzz Sawyer”. Buzz was a test pilot in the NAVY and a CIA agent. In one part of the cartoon, he test flew a “Seamaster” powered by nuclear fission engines. He also flew a “scaled down” version of the Convair “Seadart”, called “Midjet”, that never existed in reality.

The more I watch your channel, the more I long for collection of those planes as 1/72 or 1/200 scale models (or even better, model kits) as most of them are really amazing pieces of work - like e.g. this awesome Martin seaplane. Have you entertained that idea? After all, all those CGI reproductions are top-notch and might be used as templates for 3d reproductions, wouldn't they?🤔In which case, definitely count me in as a prospective buyer/collector👍

A absolutely beautiful airplane. As a kid, I saw them flying all the time. My scout master was part of the test team. It’s so sad.

Sea Master: I’m gonna make it into service! Aircraft costs: Im about to ruin this man’s whole career

Incredible video. I can’t believe you made a video on this vehicle, my great grand father was one of its engineers. I still have a model of this air craft he gave me for my birthday years and years ago

I live about 10 miles from the old Martin plant and remember seeing this plane fly on several occasions. Wish I had taken photos back then. The Martin Museum has a tail section which is the only part left

Flying boats and float planes have a very special place in my heart, my great-grandfather was one of (if not the) first to divebomb in a pby 5 catalina, my first war thunder squadren was =FLOAT=, one that used primarily flying boats and floatplanes, i love them very much!

You mentioned a maximum altitude of 20,000 feet, according to Wikipedia, the max ceiling is 50,000 feet, the same as the B-52. 20,000 would be super low, comparatively. For reference, a modern Airbus A380 can fly at 45,000 feet.