9G SMITHSONIAN CONTBIBUTIONS TO KNOWLEDGE VOL. _i 



Previous tests with the rubber-driven models had demonstrated the futility 



of all simple pendulum types of " cast off," and likewise all the trials hitherto 

 of a railroad form of Launching apparatus, in which the aerodrome was mounted 

 on a car, which had itself to get out of the way, were equally failures, so that 

 when the device referred to above proved to be worthless, it seemed that almost 

 every plan had been exhausted. There were, moreover, other difficulties, some 

 of which have been indicated above, such as that of making the burners work 

 properly in even a moderate wind during the very short time required for at- 

 taching the wings and so adjusting the aerodrome on the launching apparatus. 

 These difficulties, which, now that they have been overcome, seem difficul- 

 ties no longer, but which then seemed insuperable, were all connected with the 

 ever-presenl problem of weight. It would have been easy to make rigid sustain- 

 ing surfaces which would not bend iii the wind; to make tires which would not go 

 out; and easy to overcome all the impediments which seem so trivial in descrip- 

 tion and were so formidable in practice, were it not that the mandate of abso- 

 lute necessity forbade this being done by any contrivance which would add to 

 the weight of an already phenomenally light construction. The difficulties of the 

 flight as they were seen in the workshop were multiplied, then, beyond measure 

 by the actual experiments in the field, and the year closed with a most discour- 

 aging outlook. 



1894 



The new year began without any essential improvement in the means al- 

 ready described, though a new launching apparatus had been devised by the 

 writer, which was scarcely so much an apparatus for launching, in the ordinary 

 sense of the word, as one for holding the aerodrome out over the water, and 

 simply letting it drop from a height of about 25 feet, during which fall it was 

 hoped (exact data being unobtainable in advance of experiment) that there 

 would be time for the propellers to give the aerodrome the necessary soaring 



s| I before reaching the water. This device consisted of an inverted tripod, 



which held the aerodrome comparatively steady by three bearing points, while 

 a cross bar of wood was added to prevent the wings from swaying before the 

 launch. Previously, the supporting surfaces, wings and tail, had been put on 

 only at the last minute. Now it became possible to keep them on in a gentle 

 bree/.e for an indefinite time before launching. 



January 9. The previous day having been spent in practicing the steps pre 

 liniinary to launching, so as to avoid delay in assembling and mounting the aero- 

 drome, the writer, with Dr. Graham Bell, went to Quantico. The day was calm, 

 and every condition seemed favorable. The aerodrome was dropped fairly, un- 

 der full steam, and it fell in a nearly horizontal position, but touched the water 

 at a distance of only 50 or 60 feet, evidently before the accessary initial speed 



