The Navy ended up purchasing three of Martin’s K.IVs in 1921–the closest he ever came to successfully marketing one of his designs–and gave them serial numbers A-5840 through A-5842.

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Whether or not the K.IVs were to have used Martin’s semiretractable landing gear is a moot point, for the Navy operated them as seaplanes. They each were fitted with a large central float and two smaller ones mounted underneath the outer set of interplane struts. Redesignated KF-1s (for Kitten floatplanes), they had a top speed of 98 mph, could climb to 5,000 feet in 12 minutes and had a service ceiling of 11,400 feet–hardly enough to intimidate a zeppelin, but adequate for leisurely scouting duties in a peacetime Navy.

Incredibly–considering the less than amiable circumstances of its rejection–the original K.III somehow survived the decades. It can currently be seen hanging from a hangar ceiling at the Paul E. Garber facility in Silver Spring, Md.

Few people besides hard-core aviation aficionados remember James V. Martin. It could have been otherwise, and his name might have been associated with several features that were ahead of their time…if only he had come up with a better vehicle on which to install them.

This article was written by Jon Guttman and originally published in the March 1996 issue of Aviation History. For more great articles subscribe to Aviation History magazine today!

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