NO- ; > LANGLE'S MEMOIE ON MECHANICAL II. I' l!<>7 



work from being twisted by a side wind striking the machine while ii was si ill 

 on the launching car) had been distorted, the metal cap on il being stretched 

 out of shape in a way which indicated that the pin of the front guy-post bad 

 hung in the cap, and thai the guy-post was not therefore free from this part 

 of the ear when the end of the launching track dropped. The shock which the 

 writer felt at the moment of launching and which had also been seen by others 

 to occur was thus conclusively shown to have been due to the falling track, 

 dragging the front end of the machine down with it. As the machine was trav- 

 elling forward and the car had been almost instantly brought to a standstill by 

 its buffer pistons co-acting with the buffer cylinders at the foot of the track, 

 this front guy-post had been pulled backwards, and thus not only pulled the 

 main guy-wires of the wings backwards and thereby depressed the front edge 

 of the front wings so that they had no angle of inclination, but had also bent 

 the front end of the metal framework downward, — effects which were dis 

 covered from the later examination of the frame and the guy-post itself. From 

 the instantaneous photographs which were obtained, indisputable evidence was 

 obtained that this was what actually occurred. Referring to the photograph, 

 Plate 95, which was taken by Mr. (I. 11. Powell, Secretarj of the Board of Ord 

 nance and Fortification, and which shows the machine just a \'rw feet in front 

 of the point where it was actually launched, it will at once he seen that the 

 front end of the frame is bent downward and that the front guy-post instead of 

 being parallel with the rear one has been deflected backward at the lower end 

 through an angle of 30 degrees. Referring further to the photograph, Plate 

 96, which was taken at the same instant as the one just described, it will be 

 seen that even this one, which is a view of the machine as it passed almost 

 directly over Mr. Smillie's head, most clearly shows the extreme extent to which 

 the front wings had been distorted, the rear edges of the wings near the frame 

 having been twisted up until they struck the cross-frame, and the outer ends 

 being free to twist bad been forced up very much higher. 



After completing the recovery of the machine and the examination as to 

 the extent of the injuries it had sustained, and finding unquestionable evidence 

 that the accident had been caused by the front guy-post hanging in its guide 

 block on the launching car, the workmen were set to work straightening out and 

 arranging the various parts, fittings and accessories, and cleaning up the en- 

 gine which fortunately had sustained no injury whatever. After a consulta 

 tion in Washington with Mr. Langley, who had been unable to he present at 

 the experiment, both concerning what had already occurred and also what should 

 be done regarding the future of the work, and in view of the fact that the 

 statement which the writer had given to the press representatives, immediately 

 after the accident, had been made before there hail been time to make an examina- 

 tion of the machine itself, it was decided that it would he best to give to the press 



