National Air and Space Museum Archives

James V. Martin vs. United States Navy Department Exhibit Book

Summary

Collection ID:
NASM.XXXX.1003
Creators:
Martin, James V. (James Vernon), 1885-1956
Dates:
1938
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
0.49 Cubic feet
1 flat box.
Repository:
This collection consists of one 12 by 18 inch bound volume containing aircraft blueprints, and photographs, notes, typed indices to and descriptions of exhibits, and rulings from
James V. Martin vs. United States
.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
This collection consists of one 12 by 18 inch bound volume containing aircraft blueprints, and photographs, notes, typed indices to and descriptions of exhibits, and rulings from
James V. Martin vs. United States
.

Arrangement

Arrangement
No arrangement, just one item.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
James Vernon Martin (1885-1956) was an aviator and inventor during the early days of aviation. He joined the Merchant Marine (1900) before attending the University of Virginia and Harvard (graduate degree, 1912). While at Harvard he organized the Harvard Aeronautical Society (1910), served as its first director, and, through the Society, organized the first international air meet in the United States (1910). He traveled to England in January 1911 for flight training and received Royal Aero Club F.A.I. Certificate #55. After returning to the U.S. in June 1911, he traveled the exhibition circuit (1911-13) before rejoining the Merchant Marine as commander of USS Lake Frey (1914). During 1915 he flew flight tests for the Aeromarine Co. In 1917, he formed the Martin Aeroplane Company in Elyria, OH on the strength of nine aeronautical patents, including his automatic stabilizer (1916) and retractable landing gear (1916). In 1920 he moved his company to Dayton, OH, as Martin Enterprises and offered free use of his patents to the American aeronautical industry. He moved to Garden City (Long Island), NY in 1922, called the company the Martin Aeroplane Factory, and, two years later, sued the United States government and the Manufacturers Aeronautical Association, claiming that they conspired to monopolize the aviation industry. The suit was dismissed in 1926, but Martin continued to press his claims of collusion through the 1930s. During World War II he again returned to the sea, commanding a troop transport in the Pacific. Afterwards he tried to raise interest in a large catamaran flying boat, the Martin Oceanplane, but failed in the face of the growth in commercial trans-ocean service by conventional aircraft.

Administration

Author
Patti Williams
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Found in Collection, Unknown, Unknown, NASM.XXXX.1003
Processing Information
Arranged, described, and encoded by Patti Williams, 2019.

Digital Content


Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Use
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Preferred Citation
James V. Martin vs. United States
Navy Department Exhibit Book, NASM.XXXX.1003, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Aeronautics Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lawsuits Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Martin Aeroplane Factory (Martin, James Vernon) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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