NO. 8 SAMUEL PIERPONT LANGLEY — ABBOT 53 



was released and the aerodrome sped along the track. Just as the 

 machine left the track, those who were watching it, among whom 

 were two representatives of the Board of Ordnance,"' noticed that the 

 machine was jerked violently down at the front (being caught, as 

 it subsequently appeared, by the falling ways)/" and under the full 

 power of its engine was pulled into the water, carrying with it its 

 engineer. When the aerodrome rose to the surface it was found, 

 that while the front sustaining surfaces had been broken by their 

 impact with the water, yet the rear ones were comparatively unin- 

 jured. As soon as a full examination of the launching mechanism 

 had been made, it was found that the front portion of the machine 

 had caught on the launching car, and that the guy post, to which were 

 fastened the guy wires which are the main strength of the front 

 surfaces, had been bent to a fatal extent. 



" The machine, then, had never been free in the air, but had been 

 pulled down as stated. 



" The disaster just briefly described had indefinitely postponed the 

 test, but this was not all. As has been said before, the weather had 

 become very cold and the so-called equinoctial storms being near it 

 was decided to remove the house boat at the earliest time possible, 

 but before it could be done, a storm came up and swept away ail the 

 launches, boats, rafts, etc., and in doing so completely demolished the 

 greater part of them, so that when the house boat was finally removed 

 to Washington, on the 15th of October, these appurtenances had to be 

 replaced. It is necessary to remember that these long series of delays 

 worked other than mere scientific difficulties, for a more important 

 and more vital one was the exhaustion of the financial means for the 

 work. 



" Immediately upon getting the boat to Washington the labor of 

 constructing new sustaining surfaces was begun, and they were com- 

 pleted about the close of November. It was proposed to make a 



" Major Macomb, of the Board of Ordnance, states in his report to the Board, 

 that " the trial was unsuccessful because the front guy post caught in its support 

 on the launching car and was not released in time to give free flight, as was 

 intended, but, on the contrary, caused the front of the machine to be dragged 

 downward, bending the guy post and making the machine plunge into the water 

 about 50 yards in front of the house boat." 



" This instantaneous photograph, taken from the boat itself and hitherto un- 

 published, shows the aerodrome in motion before it had actually cleared the 

 house boat. On the left is seen a portion of a beam, being a part of the falling 

 ways in which the front wing was caught, while the front wing itself is seen 

 twisted, showing that the accident was in progress before the aerodrome was 

 free to fly. 



