NO. 3 LANGLEY MEMOIB OX MECHANICAL ll. n. ill 27!» 



Preliminary arrangements haying been completed and tests ma<l<' of a quarter 

 size model, the first attempt at actual flighl with the man-carrying aerodrome 

 was made on ( Ictober 7, 1903. 



On this occasion there were present on behalf of the Board, Major M. M. 

 Macomb, Artillery Corps, and Mr. (J. 11. Powell, clerk of the Board. 



Major Macomb in his reporl to the Board stated that — 



" The trial was unsuccessful because the fronl guy posl caughl in its support 

 on the launching car and was not released in time to give free flight, as was in- 

 tended, but on the contrary, caused the front of the machine to be dragged down- 

 ward, bending the guy-posl and making the machine plunge into the water 

 about 50 yards in front of the house-boat." 



This accident necessitated the removal of the house-boal to Washington for 

 the more convenient repair of damages. The repairs having been completed, 

 on December 8, 1903, another attempt at a trial was made, this time at the 

 junction of the Anacostia and the Potomac Rivers. General W. F. Randolph 

 and Major Macomb, members of the Board, and Mr. Powell, were present. 

 Major Macomb reported as follows : 



" The launching car was released at 4.45 p. m. . . . The car was set in motion 

 and the propellers revolved rapidly, the engine working perfectly, but there was 

 something wrong with the launching. The rear guy-post seemed to drag, bring- 

 ing the rudder down on the launching ways, and a crashing, rending sound, fol- 

 lowed by the collapse of the rear wings, showed that the machine had been 

 wrecked in the launching, just how, it was impossible for me to see." 



March 3, 1904, the Board stated that it was not " prepared to make an 

 additional allotment at this time for continuing the work," whereupon Doctor 

 Langley requested that arrangements be made for a distribution of the aero- 

 drome materia] procured jointly from funds allotted by the Board and by the 

 Smithsonian Institution. Doctor Langley was informed that all of the mate- 

 rial would be left in his possession and available for any future work that he 

 might be able to carry on in connection with the problem of mechanical flight. 



That this refusal of the Board of Ordnance and Fortification to render 

 further assistance to the work was due to the fear that such action would re- 

 sult in a curtailment of their appropriation by Congress is clearly shown by 

 the following extract from the official report of the Board on November 14, 

 1908, to the Secretary of War : 



AERIAL NAVIGATION 



For a number of years the Board lias been interested in the subject of 

 aerial navigation, and as long ago as 1898 made allotments to carry on experi- 

 ments with a machine of the heavier-than-air type, under the direction of the 

 late Dr. S. P. Langley, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, who had made 

 exhaustive experiments in aerodynamics," and who had demonstrated the practi- 

 cability of mechanical flighl by the successful operation of engine-driven models. 



The many problems and mechanical difficulties met with in the development 

 of the full-size machine have been set forth in the various published statements 2 



'See Experiments in Aerodynamics, Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, Vol. 27, Washing- 

 ton. 1891. 



■ Researches and Experiments in Aerial Navigation, Smithsonian Publication No. 1809, Washing- 

 ton. 1908. 



