Martin 404

Pictorial history of the Martin 404 with a musical song about a
Southern Airways 404 set to the tune of "Wabash Canonball

[@HuntJumpSC]

Clifton Albright, who flew for Southern & was also a bluegrass musician is credited with the song. He and my dad both flew for Southern, both played bluegrass & were friends. He have a couple of 45's somewhere of this & I am so glad someone did a video here with the music. I loved it as a child and still do at 40, great memories of my dad at the old ATL terminal.

[@charleskelly5672]

Really cool! Loved the old Martin 404 with all it's quirks! With it's P&W R2800CB16 radials that pumped out 2400 HP "Wet" at 2700 RPM and 59.5" Hg, it's "walking" main gear, and a stabilizer that changed it's angle of incidence with flap extension - you knew the stab was working by an amber light that illuminated on the instrument panel by the copilot's left knee - the Martin was a lot of fun to fly. Flew both the Eastern (later Southern) Martins with Florida Airlines, and the TWA (later Ozark) Martins with Naples Airlines (PBA) back in the late 70's and early 80's. There were subtle differences between them system wise too. Got about 1600 hours in Martins all told, about half as copilot and half as a Captain. And that my friend, was a long, long time ago! Thanks for the memories! Mike Kelly "Old School" Aviator and Martin pilot.

[@beegee22]

Thanks for sharing some great memories!

[@1969jfp]

I never could get Cliff to play that song very often. It was one of my favorites to hear him and Charlotte sing it.

[@phishbill]

Great stuff, and thanks for slipping Allegheny's Martin 202 in there!

[@gabrielhalston6726]

We lived in Fayetteville, North Carolina, from 1963-1966, where Piedmont Airlines operated flights into Grannis Field. One Saturday, Piedmont had $10.00 flights whereby you took off and circled the city of Fayetteville on a sight-seeing tour and landed back at Grannis. The plane was a Martin 4-0-4. Our parents gave us the 10 bucks for each of us and up we went! It my first and only ride on a Martin 4-0-4. Loved it.

[@fighterjetsensei]

I work at the Glenn L. Martin Maryland Aviation museum, and we have one of these in our collection. Gonna show this to the director on wednesday!

[@alanfitzgeraldsr2201]

My father worked at Martin in Middle River Maryland where they were made. He was layed off when I was 2 or 3, the jet era was here.

[@larryreece1427]

I used to live in a subdivision real close to woodrum airport in roanoke va in the 60s thats where piedmonts martin 404 maint hanger was i remember the mechanics doing engine runs late at nite those pratts would rattle the windows in my bedroom!! nice song for a great reliable airplane !!

[@jakejacobs7584]

Did you know the singer of that song? His name is Cliff Albright and he flew for Southern. Worked with him for a few years in Memphis at Republic Express. One of the most awesome guys I've ever met. If anyone knows where he is or whatever happened to him I would love to hear from you. Last I heard he took a job flying border patrol in Nigeria but that was in the mid to late 80's. First time I heard him do that song was in a shit hole bar in Dillon Colorado while a group of us were skiing . It was awesome.

[@susannaregister9317]

Clif sadly passed away in June 2009. He was a great guy and my Dad thought the world of him.

[@jakejacobs7584]

@@susannaregister9317 That is sad news but thank you for letting me know. I lost track of him when he and his wife took a contract in Nigeria for a while. By the time he got back I had taken a job in Dallas at American. Wish I had gotten to visit one more time. Thanks again..

[@barbarasmith6761]

I remember flying from Valdosta, Georgia, to Atlanta, Georgia, in January, 1967, returning to NTC Bainbridge, Maryland.//

[@tomb4568]

Too cool! I loved the 404s! I remember my last ride on one we shut the right engine down but landed just fine at PIT. (TWA 404)

[@Ncharlestun]

Danny Davis and the Nashville Brass used the Martin 404 to fly around the country back in the day.

[@goprocreations1977]

I flew into and out of Atlanta many times on a Southern Airways 404 in the 60's. It was almost like a DC-3 with a nose wheel.

[@mikeklaene4359]

When stationed at Ft Story, VA, I would take a Piedmont 404 from Norfolk to Covington, KY (CVG - aka Cincinnati airport even though it IS in Kentucky!). No need to switch planes though it did make several intermediate stops. Life was good.

[@2874horton]

I once flew from ATL to HSV in a Martin 404 (Southern). Had a bumpy thunderstorm all the way. Rain water oozed from the passenger loading door. The front end crew wore raincoats.

[@flyingfiddler90q]

I missed Southern by a few years, but as a Green Book brat, I love it!

[@jkdm7653]

Way back in the 50s, TWA operated the 404 on its route from Detroit to Toledo to Cincinnati. Eastern also flew the 404in the Great Lakes region.

[@zachtong5985]

For a period of time at the end of their Toledo service TWA only operated ONE westbound flight a day at Toledo continuing on to Indianapolis and St. Louis. If you wanted to return to Toledo you had to go to Detroit first to then catch the only flight of the day!

[@jkdm7653]

@@zachtong5985 Thanks for the info!

[@boblackey1]

Yeah Steve. That is the way they were!! I used to fly Martin 404's with Piedmont Airlines. One time I flew from Atlanta to Roanoke, Va in 1967 at night. Sat next to the port engine and the huge roar was something coming from that Pratt & Whitney R2800C 18 cylinder radial engine with a long flame shooting out the exhaust pipes right next to the window. And it rattled inside the passenger compartment too. Almost all 404's were new in 1952 for Eastern & TWA. Southern & Piedmont got them used.

[@carlwatson4930]

Love this video

[@josephhaddakin7095]

Hello

[@dshep47]

Fly on a Southern Martin 404 several times from Atlanta to Tuscaloosa and back in the mid to late 60's. It was the nosiest airplane I've ever flown.

[@4stringplayer4u]

I know exactly who has the rights to it...It was written by Dexter Tudor and I believe another fellow helped a little on the lyrics. I about fell out of my chair when the song started playin...I played it with Dexter when I was in High school and hadn't heard it in nearly 35 years. I have a "45" copy of that record. Dexter was one of the principals at my school in Mississippi..I was in high school but we both had a great love of aviation and we both were musicians. I a guitar/bass player and he a guitar player...I may have been the only kid in my school who even new What a Martin 404 was. I grew up in Oxford MS (home of the ole miss Rebels) and i remember as a kid racing to the airport on bicycles when we heard the unmistakable low throaty sound of those R-2800"s as it approached the our little airport....we would all wait hanging on the fence waiting for them to start em up taxi out and blow us over as he did a 180 back to the runway....that was a real golden age . Send me a message and I will see if i cant get you in touch with him...Hes retired from fedex last I heard but he's pretty easy to find..

[@johneddy98033]

To the best of my knowledge, TWA and Eastern were the only customers for the 4-0-4 when it was new. The regional airlines, like Southern, bought them second-hand.

[@Forrest31962]

Great tune about my favorite commercial prop airplane :) ! Love the pics,too !

[@TheCannonofMohammed]

There are still quite a few old Southern Airlines people who soldier on in the industry with Delta Air Lines (via mergers). I must tell them about this!

[@daverobinson6184]

I love the music

[@SabraStiehl]

Eastern and TWA signed contracts with Martin for the '404 just before the Korean war broke out in June 1950. Apparently because of the war they put off building the airplanes until the war ended in '53, then due to the price of aluminum being higher they sought to renegotiate with the airlines, which refused. After a court decision ruled that the contracts were valid Martin stood to lose a lot of money on the deal, so they built the planes and immediately buried the machine tools behind a hangar so Eastern and TWA would have to pay through the nose for any spare part, which would require retooling to produce. This was untenable for Eastern and TWA so they dumped the planes at a cheap price mostly on Southern, Pacific, Piedmont and several other airlines. Other local service airlines of that day generally operated the Convair 240 or 340, roughly a '404 equivalent.

[@boblackey1]

Just found a little footage of a Martin 404 in action with sound! It's on KZbin. Type in "Raw footage Piedmont Airlines" and it comes up. It's at the beginning in black and white. It shows the passenger terminal of Woodrum Field in Roanoke, Virginia then the 404 starting both engines, then a pre-flight check by the co-pilot seated in the right seat of the 404 and the 404 taking off making that loud rumble sang about on this song. They zoom in on the cockpit after the number one engines is stared and i could see the fleet number was 443. Piedmont used the last three numbers of the FAA number so the plane is N404443. According to researching it out, it went into service in 1952 with Eastern Airlines who used it for 10 years then sold it and Piedmont had it from 1962 to 1969. In 1986 was had been converted to a crop duster with big tanks feeding sprayers in the passenger compartment and while attempting a take off in Buffalo, Wyoming by two pilots who had not flown the 404 before, they tried to take off too heavy and failed to clear obstruction at the end of the runway, flipped up side down, crashed and burned with both men loosing their lives. Most of the 36 Martin 404's that ended up at Piedmont in the 1960's were new with TWA but a few, including N40443 where new with Eastern. The engines were Pratt and Whitney R-2800 CB-16 and yes the same engine on the Convair 240 which American Airlines had a lot of.

[@boblackey1]

Go to this on youtube. "Raw footage Piedmont Airlines" and at the beginning is black and white footage of a Martin 404 starting both engines with sound, then a pre-flight check by the co-pilot which seems to be out of place and the 404 taking off with a loud roar! Also note when the number one engine starts, the smoke and then a slight back fire out the exhaust you can hear if you listen for it. I rode on 404 with Eastern then Piedmont and when in Atlanta on Piedmont flights, noted many Southern Airline 404 at the terminal. It was somewhat common for the 404 to back fire while the engines were starting. Sometimes it was just a slight pop and other times it sounded like a shotgun. Not as a rule but more often that one would think, the engine would fire then start slowing down, thenback fire and get going again. When Piedmont had 5 to 8 there in Atlanta and Southern also had that many at the terminal, it looked like a Martin 404 convention. That was a lot of 404's when you realize they only built 103 of them. The Convair equivalent, which had the same engine, P&W R-2800 CB 16, had over 1,000 sold. But the Convair had the exhaust at the back of the engine and wing and although it was the same engine, it didn't sound as loud.

[@johneddy98033]

@bob lackey, even Howard Hughes, TWA's principal owner at the time, bought a 4-0-4 for his own use.

[@richschindler8731]

Great video, even greater song.

[@zachtong5985]

The Martins because of the shape of the wing upward was better adept at operating from shorter 4000 foot runways whereas the Convair could not.

[@SabraStiehl]

I forgot to mention that the '404 was powered by R-2800s of Republic P-47 fame, almost certainly the same engines rebuilt. After Piedmont decided to dump the '404 management laid off 92 mechanics who had previously done routine maintenance on the engines, I then experienced three engine failures during the last year I flew them.

[@riccardo830]

Love the music-Did they play it onboard??-

[@susannaregister9317]

My dad always had a baby banjo he made (it eventually was gifted to his friend Earl Scruggs) or harmonica with him, so there’s a good chance he entertained some captive audiences

[@P61guy61]

Love the video. any way I can get a copy of the tune?

[@erikhong1174]

I Have No Clue, Now, as to the Owners of the :Bird!" I was Flying from Jacksonville, Fl. (Through Atlanta GA.- To My Dad's in Athens Ga!0 [ UGA Professor!] Anyway: some Kind of real "Bird/ Jax to Atlanta!" The Martin 404 was the "Puddle Jumper hop to Athens Ga.. {Somebody "Fouled Up!"] The oil inspection cover; was "Flapping In The Breeze!" I WORKED ON AIRPLANES! : I GOT A Seat Companion/ and Phone Number , For a "Nice Lady; that I never Re-contacted with!"

[@Grimhilde7]

the 404 couldn,t have been all THAT bad,was it...? people nowadays are just so soft and spoiled by comfy modern jets.....and that includes pilots....! propliner crews were a tougher breed as well as passengers.

[@KC4JTA]

I would like to know who owns the rights to that song, I would love to record it

[@4stringplayer4u]

And you know....ole Southern Airways was a good company...My dad had friends who flew with them and they were allot like Piedmont...they prided them selves on being a can do customer service airline...that kind of work ethic seems to be dwindling as fast Obama's credibility....

[@breezethompson9721]

Richard Cole has lol have to disagree with that comment. They may have wanted to be like Piedmont but no one kept up with the Pacemaker. southern faded away like an old paint job.. for that matter eastern couldn't even keep up.Hey eastern tried as so many others did. sorry facts are proven