Jensen, Martin, 1900-1992.

Martin Jensen was a pioneer aviator. He was born in 1900 in Jamestown, Kansas. He joined the U.S. Navy in World War I and after the war was a barnstormer and stunt pilot, crossing the country in a biplane that he designed. In 1924, he established the Jensen Flying School in San Diego. He also established the Jensen Aircraft Corporation where he designed the Jensen Trainer. In 1925 he completed a coast-to-coast flight in a Curtis OX-5 Jenny. He piloted his Breese "Aloha" to a second place finish in the 1927 Dole Trans-Pacific Air Race, a race from Oakland to Honolulu. In that same year he transported the MGM Studios lion, Leo the Lion, in a specially built Ryan airplane on a publicity flight that was to go from California to New York. Jensen crashed in a remote area in Arizona. He and the lion were not hurt. In 1935, he joined Langley Aircraft and worked on the design of a plastic molding known as the Langley Process. In 1940 he went to work for the Bendix Aviation Corporation where he devised the Bendix Model J single-seat helicopter. He retired in the mid-1960s, though he continued his aviation research. He died in San Diego on February 8, 1992.

From the description of Martin Jensen papers, 1927-1990. (University of Wyoming, American Heritage Center). WorldCat record id: 64773568