PROCEEDINGS OF REGENTS. 107 



order, therefore, to take full advantage of Langley's law, those por- 

 tions of the machine that offer head resistance alone without con- 

 tributing anything to the support of the machine in the air, should 

 be reduced to a minimum. 



CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ART OP AERODROMICS. 



After laying the foundations of a science of aerodromics, Langley 

 proceeded to reduce his theories to practice. 



Between 1891 and 1895 he built four aerodrome models — one driven 

 by carbonic acid gas, and three by steam engines. 



On the 6th of May, 1896, his Aerodrome No. 5 was tried upon the 

 Potomac Eiver near Quantico. I was myself a witness of this cele- 

 brated experiment, and secured photographs of the machine in the 

 air, which have been widely published. 



This aerodrome carried a steam engine and had a spread of wing 

 of from 12 to 14 feet. It was shot into the air from the top of a 

 house boat anchored in a quiet bay near Quantico. 



It made a beautiful flight of about 3,000 feet, considerably over 

 half a mile. It was indeed a most inspiring spectacle to see a steam 

 engine in the air flying with wings like a bird. The equilibrium 

 seemed to be perfect, although no man was on board to control and 

 guide the machine. 



I witnessed two flights of this aerodrome on the same day and 

 came to the conclusion that the possibility of aerial flight by heavier- 

 than-air machines had been fully demonstrated. The world took the 

 same view and the progress of practical aerodromics was immensely 

 stimulated by the experiments. 



Langley afterwards constructed a number of other aerodrome 

 models which were flown with equal success, and he then felt that he 

 had brought his researches to a conclusion, and desired to leave to 

 others the task of bringing the experiments to the man-carrying stage; 



Later, however, encouraged by the appreciation of the War Depart- 

 ment, which recognized in the Langley aerodrome a possible new 

 engine of war, and stimulated by an allotment of $50,000 from the 

 Department, he constructed a full-sized aerodrome to carry a man. 



Two attempts were made, with Mr. Charles M. Manly on board as 

 aviator, to shoot the machine into the air from the top of a house 

 boat, but on each occasion the machine caught on the launching 

 ways and was precipitated into the water. 



The public, not knowing the nature of the defect which prevented 

 the aerodrome from taking the air, received the impression that the 

 machine itself was a failure and could not fly. 



° A photograph of this flight was here shown. 



