No sabotage during construction of Glenn L. Martin flyboat according to the report to the secretary dated 16 October 1939

An item reported that tje story of Drew Pearson and Robert S. Allen in the Washington Times-Herald of 16 October of alleged sabotage of a flying boat under construction by Glenn L. Martin for the US Navy was without any fondation.The engine failures were caused by minor defects and since then solved. Real trouble was found in take-off characteristics in that aircraft which showed a porpoise tendency which was believed caused by the hull design. The characteristics were predicted by Bu-Aero (1) after performance performance tests with a model by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics but the Martin company made yet none changes.

Note

1. BuAer or Bu-Aero was the Bureau of Aeronautics which was the material support organization for naval aviation between 1921-1959.

Source

Franklin D. Roosevelt. Presidential Library and Museum. Box 62. Reports&Bulletins 1939-March 1940