Services Set for William Martin, Pioneer of Jet-Noise Monitoring

Funeral services will be held Monday in Arizona for William J. Martin, who pioneered the jet-noise monitoring techniques at John Wayne Airport that became a model for airports throughout the nation.

Martin, who established the county’s airports noise abatement department in 1974, died March 6 at the age of 69 from lung cancer.

A former test pilot, Martin was manager of the Palmdale division of General Dynamics from 1942 to 1966, then tested planes and worked in flight production for Douglas Aircraft Co. At John Wayne Airport, Martin presided over a sophisticated monitoring system that precisely measured jet noise and that also determined the area surrounding the airport that was most affected by the noise.

During Martin’s tenure, the area affected by jet noise shrank enough to exclude all homes and schools.

Martin is survived by his wife, Betty, of South Laguna, three sons and a daughter. Funeral services will be held at St. Francis Cemetery in Phoenix.

The family suggests that donations be sent to the scholarship fund for the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, P.O. Box 986, Lancaster, Calif., 93534. Donations may also be sent to the cancer fund of Antelope Valley Hospital Medical Center, 1600 W. Avenue J, Lancaster.