EXPERIMENTS WITH THE LANGLEY AERODROME. 121 



engines in the open, though they had not done so in the shoji, and this 

 is mentioned as another instanee of the nnmerous causes ol" Irving 

 delay which it was impossible to foresee. 



Finally, however, oh the -8d of September, everything seemed to 

 be in readiness for the experiments, and the large aerodrome was 

 according!}^ j^Iaced in position and all orders given and arrangements 

 made for a test that day. After stationing the various tugs, launches, 

 etc., at their predetermined ]X)sitions so that they might render any 

 assistance necessary to the engineer or the aerodrome, in case it came 

 down in the water at a point distant from the house boat, and after 

 the photographers, with special telephoto cameras, had been sta- 

 tioned on the shore in order that photographs with their trigonomet- 

 rical data might be obtained, from which speed, distance, etc., might 

 be later determined, and when everyone was anxiously expecting 

 the experiment, a delay occurred from one of the hardly predictable 

 causes just mentioned in connection with the weather. An attempt 

 was made to start the engine so that it might be running at its proper 

 rate when the aerodrome was launched into free air after leaving 

 the track, but the dry batteries used for sparking the engine, together 

 with the entire lot of several dozen which were on hand as a reserve, 

 had become useless from the dampness. 



I have merely instanced some of these causes of failure when every- 

 thing was apparently ready for the expected test, but only one Avho 

 Avas on the spot and who had interest in the outcome could appre- 

 ciate trials of this sort, and the delays of waiting for weather suitable 

 for experiments. 



It was found that every storm which came anywhere in the vicinity, 

 immediately selected the river as its route of travel, and although 

 a 10-mile wind on the land would not be an insurmountable obstacle 

 during an ex[)eriment, yet the same wind on tlie river rendered it 

 impossible to maintain the large house boat on an even keel and free 

 from pitching and tossing long enough to make a test. 



A\'hile speaking of the difficulties imposed by the weather, it should 

 also be understood that to take the aerodrome in parts from under the 

 slielter of the roof and assemble and mount it u})()n the upjx'r works 

 was a task requiring four or five hours, and that during this time a 

 change in the weather was altogether likely to occur, and did re- 

 jjeatedly occur, sufficient to render the experiment impossible. Expe- 

 rience has shown, tlien, that the aerodrome should be sheltered by a 

 i)uilding, in which it shall be at all times ready for innnediate launch- 

 ing. During all the delay resulting from this and other causes — 

 since it was never known on what day the experiment might take 

 place — a great expense for tug boats waiting at a distance of 40 

 miles from the city, was incui-j-cd. and this was a part of the con- 



