<hi style=afpcap>The Martin XB-51 was originally designated as the A-45 but was changed as the type was intended to be a bomber rather than an attack aircraft. The rather adventurous layout of the three General Electric J47 engines with two pod mounted beneath the fuselage and the third slightly forward of the tail. Only two were ordered, with funding being provided in 1946. The first performed its maiden flight in October 1949 with their career being spent on company tests at Baltimore, Maryland and with Air Materiel Command (later Air Research and Development Command and the Air Force Flight Test Centre) at Edwards AFB, California. </hi>
