Martin PM-1 Flying Boat

The Martin PM was a large twin-engine biplane patrol flying boat built for the U.S. Navy at the end of the 1920s. It was produced by the Glenn L. Martin Company to detailed plans and specifications issued by the government-owned Naval Aircraft Factory, closely related to the earlier NAF PN-series boats. Of metal and fabric-covered metal construction, the PM carried a crew of about five on long-range maritime patrol and bombing duties.

The first PM-1 was delivered in May 1929, and Martin built fifty-five PM-1 and improved PM-2 aircraft for the Navy; the first squadron, VP-8S, received the type in August 1930. Three PM-1s were also supplied to Brazil, which used them during the 1932 revolution. The PM flying boats remained in Navy service into the mid-1930s, bridging the gap between wood-hulled World War I patrol boats and the modern monoplane flying boats that followed.