NO. 5 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION AND WRIGHT BROTHERS 2$ 



7 and December 8, 1903, failed owing to imperfect operation of the 

 catapult launching device. In these trials the wings and control 

 surfaces were badly damaged and lack of funds prevented other 

 tests at that time. The aeroplane was left by the War Department 

 with the Smithsonian Institution for further experiments. In 1914 

 (following the foundation by the Institution of the Langley Aero- 

 dynamical Laboratory) the experiments were resumed, using all 

 available parts of the original machine. The frame and engine 

 were the same as in the first trials ; the reconstructed wings were 

 used without the leading edge extension ; the control surfaces were 

 reconstructed ; and launching pontoons with necessary trussing 

 were substituted for the original catapult. Thus equipped, and 

 weighing over 40 per cent more than in 1903, with Glenn H. Curtiss 

 as the pilot, it was successfully flown at Hammondsport, N. Y., 

 June 2, 1914. With a more powerful engine and tractor propeller 

 it was subsequently flown repeatedly. These tests indicated that 

 the original machine would have flown in 1903 had it been success- 

 fully launched. After the Hammondsport flights the machine was 

 restored in accordance with the original drawings and data under 

 the supervision of one of the original mechanics, using all original 

 parts available. In 1918 the machine thus restored was deposited 

 in the National Museum for permanent exhibition. (Its 52-horse- 

 power gasoline engine was designed by Charles M. Manly, who 

 superintended the construction of the machine and piloted it in 

 1903-) 



THE MODEL AERODROMES DESIGNED BY LANGLEY, THE LANGLEY- 

 MANLY ENGINE, AND PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE MACHINES IN FLIGHT 

 ARE SHOWN NEARBY. 



6. As regards the sixth point as given on page 3 I do 

 not know the basis for Mr. Wright's feeling that the Smith- 

 sonian has failed to recognize properly the abilities of him- 

 self and his brother as research men. 



The Institution has published two articles, one by Wilbur 

 Wright on " Some Aeronautical Experiments " and the 

 other by Orville Wright on " Stability of Aeroplanes " (see 

 Smithsonian Annual Reports, 1902, pp. 133-148, and 19 14, 

 pp. 209-216). Such publication by the Smithsonian Insti- 



