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who were missing on an attempted flight from Los Angeles to San Francisco the day before. No trace of the missing men was found and Martin had a narrow escape when he was forced to alight [[strikethrough]] land [[/strikethrough]] out of gas on very rough water. As 1912 ended the factory was busy and again had to increase floor space, the schools were going well, and a few of the graduates bought planes. During the year Martin carried many passengers, including his mother.

During January and February, 1913, Martin did considerable cross-country flying in the Los Angeles area and started the development of a new tractor biplane using a 50 hp Gnome engine. He was also working with a well-known West Coast balloonist, Charles Broadwick, to try to devise a way to make a safe parachute drop from a Martin plane. Their arrangement was very similar to the practice [[strikethrough]] being [[/strikethrough]] used in drops from balloons where the jumper was [[strikethrough]] is [[/strikethrough]] already sitting in the trapeze and the chute was [[strikethrough]] being [[/strikethrough]] pulled out of a container as he fell.

Martin tested the first of the new tractor machines in April, and in May Charles Day's small aircraft company on Los Angeles was merged with the Glenn L. Martin Company and Day returned as general superintendent. Shortly after this Martin entered the 1913 Great Lakes Reliability Cruise, a competitive event for water flying craft, from Chicago to Detroit via the shoreline of the Great Lakes through the Straits of Mackinaw. The design and construction of a new plane especially for this event was started at once. During June Martin and Broadwick completed preparations for a parachute drop and on the 21st, Miss Tiny Broadwick made the first descent from Martin's plane at Griffith Park, Los Angeles.

Following this Martin and Charles Day left for Chicago with the new Great Lakes Cruise plane. Called the Martin Aeroyacht, it was a 38-foot-span tractor biplane with an 80 hp Curtiss engine, designed for either land gear or single float undercarriage. They arrived in Chicago on July 5th and Day was to accompany Martin as his mechanic on the Cruise. Five contestants were entered in the event. In their rush to get ready Martin had a mishap with the plane which delayed their scheduled start. A severe storm in the area almost put an end to the event on July 8th. Martin was not ready to start until the next morning, then he and

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