#1279
Martin JRM Mars
🇺🇸 United States ·first flew 1942· flying boat
3 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. Martin JRM Mars C-FLYL.YK Pt Hardy BC 04.08R edited-2: RuthAS· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 2. Martin XPB2M-1 Mars in flight 1942: USN· Public domain
- 3. Martin XPB2M-1 Mars on the ground 1942: U.S. Navy· Public domain
what is it?
The Martin JRM Mars is a retired large, four-engined cargo transport flying boat designed and built by the Martin Company for the United States Navy (US Navy). It was the largest Allied flying boat to enter production during World War II, although only seven were completed. The Mars was developed during the late 1930s and early 1940s as a scaled up derivative of the PBM Mariner patrol bomber, internally designated Model 170.
How to recognise it: 4 piston engines with propellers · 61 m wingspan
base stats
Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).
fun facts
- First flew 84 years ago, in 1942.
- Top speed is 2.7× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- Wingspan of 61 m: about 14 cars parked nose to tail.
- Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 12 African elephants (~6 t each).
- Range of 7,964 km: Amsterdam to New York (≈5,850 km) without stopping.
piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.
spec sheet
- first flight
- 1942-06-23
- introduced
- 1945
- retired
- 1956
- status
- retired
- number built
- 6
- role
- flying boat
- origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- makers
- Glenn L. Martin Company
- engines
- 4× Wright R-3350 Duplex-Cyclone
- passengers
- 133
- length
- 35.7 m
- wingspan
- 61 m
- height
- 11.7 m
- max take-off weight
- 74.8 t
- top speed
- 356 km/h
- cruise speed
- 306 km/h
- range
- 7,964 km
- ceiling
- 4,450 m
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q1501559, Wikipedia: Martin JRM Mars (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.