EXPERIMENTS WITH THE LANOLKY AERODRoM K. 123 



The niachinc. then, had ncxci' been free in the aii-. hiil had hccn 

 j)idl<'d (h)\\ 11 as slated. 



The disaster just hriefly (h'scril)cd had iiidcliuilcly ])()st{)(HU'(l tlie 

 (est, l)iit this was not all. As lias ix'eii said In'fore, the weatlier had 

 become very cohl and the so-caHed ('(luinoetial storms hein^ near it 

 was de('i(U'd to remove the house boat at the earliest time possible, 

 Imt before it could be done, a storm came up and swept away all the 

 humches, boats, rafts, etc., and in (loin<>' so completely demolished the 

 ufreater pai't of them, so that wIumi the house boat was finally removed 

 to Washington, on tlie ITith of October, these appurtenances had to be 

 replaced. It is necessary to i-emember that these lonof series of (h^lays 

 worked other than mere scientific difficulties, for a more imjxjrtant 

 and more vital one was the exhaustion of the hnancial 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 

 second attempt near the city, though in the meantime the ice had 

 formed in the river. However, on the 8th of December, 1003, the 

 atmosijhere became very quiet shortly before noon and an imiuediate 

 attempt was made at Arsenal Point, quite near AVashington, though 

 the site was unfavorable. Shortly after arriving at the selected 

 point everything was in readiness for the test. In the meantime 

 the wind had arisen and darkness was fast approaching, but as the 

 funds for continuing the work were exhausted, rendering it impos- 

 sible to wait until spring for more suitable weather for making ;i 

 test, it was decided to go on with it if possible. This time then> 

 were on hand to witness the test the writer, members of the Board 

 of Ordnance, and a few other guests, to say nothing of the hundreds 

 of spectators who were Avaiting on the various wharves and shores. 

 It was found impossible to moor the boat without a delay which 

 would mean that no test could be made on account of darkness, so 

 tluit it was held as well as possible by a tug. and kept with the 

 aerodrome pointing directly into the wind, though the tide, which 

 was running very strong, and the wind, which was blowing 10 miles 

 an hour, were together causing nnich ditKcnlty. The engine being 

 started and working most satisfactorily, the order was given by 

 the engineer to release the machine, but just as it was leaving the 

 track another disaster, again due to the launching ways, occurred." 



a Major Macomb again states in liis official report to the Board : " The 

 launching car was released at 4.45 ]). ni. * * * The car was set in niDtion 

 and tlie prupellers revolved rajiidly. the engine working perfectly, hut there 

 was s(»inething wrong with the launching. The rear guy po^^t seemed to drag., 

 bringing the rudder down on the launching ways, and a crashing, rending 

 sound, followed by the collapse of the rear wings, showed that the machine had 

 been wrecked in the launching: just how it was impossible to see." 



