NO. 



I \\.;u;\ MEMOIB on MECB Fl [GHT 183 



Owing to Mr. Langley's belief thai the tests of the man-carrying aero- 

 drome must not only be made over the water, bul that it was aecessarj thai the 

 machine be launched from a car running on a I rack al a considerable elevation 

 in order to permit the machine to drop a short distance after being launched in 

 case it was not quite up to soaring speed when launched, it was necessary thai 

 the aerodrome be so constructed that it could be readily transported to the 

 launching track from the interior of the house-boat where it was stored. This 

 plan of storing the main body of the machine in the interior of the boat and 

 hoisting it to the launching track just before attempting a flighl {some of the 

 difficulties of which may be more clearly appreciated by an inspection of Plate 

 60), made it necessary that the wings, tail and guy-posts be so constructed as to 

 be readily attachable to and detachable from the main frame, and since the 

 weather conditions are seldom suitable for a test for more than a couple of hours 

 at a time, it was necessary that the mechanism employed for attaching these 

 parts be so arranged that the proper settings of the different parts could be 

 quickly obtained, and without requiring the exercise of judgment which pasl ex- 

 perience had shown did not often manifest itself during the hurry of the prepa- 

 rations for a test, While the wings, therefore, were made removable, yet all of 

 the sockets, guy-wires, etc., which were loosened in removing them, were made 

 with positive stops on them so that each fitting that was to be tightened up 

 in assembling could be adjusted to its definitely determined position. 



As all of the models had been constructed with these same parts removable 

 in order to permit them to be readily shipped back and forth in the many traps 

 which had been made with them from Washington to Chopawamsic Island, the 

 same details of arrangement were used for attaching these parts on the large 

 aerodrome, though the actual fittings by which the parts were attached in the 

 latter case became more elaborate. 



In the drawings, Plates 52, 53 aud 54, the method of attaching the wings 

 to the frame is clearly shown. Each of the two main ribs of each wing 

 was secured to the midrod of the frame by a wing clamp, shown in detail in 

 Figs. 1, 2, 5, 6 and 7 of Plate 59. Figs. 1 and 2 show the clamp for the middle 

 main rib of each pair of wings, and Figs. 5 and 6 show the champ for the main 

 front rib, the latter being so constructed that the wings could be rocked on the 

 midrib clamp as a pivot and secured at any angle of lift desired from 64 de- 

 grees to 15 degrees. The horns on each clamp merely acted as receiving sockets 

 for the ends of the ribs, and were not in any way intended to do anything 

 more than merely hold the ends of the ribs in their correct positions. The win-'s 

 were fastened to the frame by the guy-wires which ran from two points on each 

 main rib to an upper and a lower guy-post mounted on the midrod. The sys- 

 tem of guy-wires for the wings is clearly shown in Plates 52, 53 and 54, and 



