The MB.5's first flight proved it a largely sound aircraft though stability issues soon crept in. This forced a reworking of the rear fuselage section which led to a new tail fin of larger surface area being fitted to help eradicate the encountered longitudinal stability. In 1944 the call came down from the Air Ministry that the MB.5 would not be accepted for adoption nor serial production though it remained in testing even as the war in Europe came to a close during May of 1945.
As impressive as it appeared, the MB.5 also became recognized as an impressive performer with a listed maximum speed of 460 miles per hour and a service ceiling reaching 40,000 feet. Rate-of-climb was 3,800 feet-per-minute and operational range was out to 1,100 miles. The MB.5 was exhibited in the first post-war aircraft flying collection at RAE Farnborough in October 1945 but its flying time was eventually marred by the main section of canopy coming loose on approach and an engine issue stained its impressive display in front of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill himself. Despite this, the aircraft was landed safely with no loss of life.
Evaluation of the aircraft continued as the months ticked on and it grew an excellent reputation as a responsive and high-performance aircraft. The pilots lucky enough to fly her placed her in high regard - its stability perfected and its agility unmatched. Some observers critiqued diving speeds and others its rate-of-climb when compared to contemporaries but few could find any major fault in the overall product. Even throughout the latter part of the 1940s, the MB.5 was still being flown at a time when many in-development wartime projects had been given up to the scrap heap.
An official review cited some failings in the aircraft but these were not shared by test pilots for some considered it the best piston-engined aircraft to ever fly. It is noteworthy that the airframe was never outfitted and flown with the intended cockpit armoring or its battery of 4 x 20mm Hispano Mk II cannons in the wings so it's true performance figures would (and could) never be realized (performance under combat loads was a very different beast to judge an aircraft by).
Its flying days ended sometime in the late 1940s (its last flight may have occurred in 1947) to which the airframe remained under RAF ownership and may have (rather unfortunately) been expended as a target or in some other unflattering training exercise. Such came the end of the impressive MB.5.
Even so, the design endeavors of the MB series were quite a journey for the Martin-Baker company. It ended its aircraft-making days when it shifted priorities to pilot safety and became an industry stalwart in providing ejection seats for many jet aircraft of the Cold War period (1947-1991). The company continues in this respect.
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