On 12 September 1942, Captain Valentine Baker was killed while test-flying the Martin-Baker MB3, an experimental British fighter, from RAF Wing in Buckinghamshire.

Baker was more than the aircraft’s test pilot. He founded the Martin-Baker Aircraft Company with engineer James Martin in the 1930s and tested the aircraft they developed.

The MB3 was being developed as a heavily armed single-seat fighter. During Baker’s flight, its engine seized. He attempted an emergency landing, but the aircraft struck an obstruction and crashed. Baker was killed.

The accident left James Martin without his friend, business partner and test pilot. It also strengthened his interest in finding better ways for pilots to escape aircraft when something went wrong.

Escape from increasingly fast military aircraft was becoming a serious problem. Climbing out and relying on a parachute became more difficult as aircraft performance increased. During the war, Martin was asked to investigate ways to help pilots escape their aircraft.

Martin-Baker eventually concentrated on ejecting the pilot while still seated, using a powered mechanism to move the seat clear of the aircraft before the pilot descended by parachute. Development and testing followed during the 1940s.

The company Baker and Martin had established to design and build aircraft increasingly became associated instead with keeping pilots alive when those aircraft could no longer be saved. Martin-Baker later became a major manufacturer of ejection seats and other aircrew escape equipment.

Baker did not live to see that change. His final flight in the MB3 ended the partnership as the company still tried to establish itself as an aircraft manufacturer.