Martin T3M
| T3M | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| T3M-2 floatplane | |
| Role | Torpedo-bomber |
| Manufacturer | Glenn L. Martin Company |
| First flight | 1926 |
| Introduction | 1926 |
| Retired | 1932 |
| Primary user | United States Navy |
| Number built | 124 |
| Developed from | Curtiss CS |
| Variants | Martin T4M |
The Martin T3M was an American torpedo bomber of the 1920s. A single-engined three-seat biplane, it became a standard torpedo bomber of the U.S. Navy, operating from both land bases and from aircraft carriers from 1926 to 1932.
Having built 75 examples of the Martin SC, the production version of the Curtiss CS in 1925, the Glenn L. Martin Company was able to offer an improved version when the U.S. Navy had a requirement for an improved torpedo-bomber/scout aircraft. This aircraft, which was designated the T3M-1, first flew in July 1926.
The T3M was a large single-engined biplane capable of being fitted with either a conventional tailwheel undercarriage or floats. The fuselage was constructed of welded steel tube in place of the riveted steel frame of the CS/SC, with the pilot and bombardier seated side by side in the front cockpit situated forward of the wing, with the bombardier having a position under the nose for aiming the aircraft's bombs or torpedoes, while the gunner had a cockpit well aft of the wing, with a radiator slung under the top wing between the cockpits. Power was from a 575 hp (429 kW) Wright T-3B V-12 engine. 24 T3M-1s were built.
As the T3M-1 was underpowered, a new version was produced with the much more powerful (770 hp/574 kW) Packard 3A-2500 engine. This version, the T3M-2 had revised wings with the upper and lower wings of equal span (while in the T3M-1 the lower wings were of greater span), and the radiator was replaced by two radiators on the fuselage side, allowing the crew to be moved to three individual tandem cockpits. The U.S. Navy ordered 100 T3M-2s, one of which was re-engined with the Pratt & Whitney Hornet and the Wright Cyclone radial engines as the XT3M-3 and XT3M-4 respectively. These aircraft formed the basis of the Martin T4M that would replace the T3M in service with the U.S. Navy.
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