Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-05-13
FLYING THROUGH THE AIR
Prof Langley's Aerodrome Voyage for
Half Mile
A Successful Experiment Described
by Prof. Alex. Graham Bell-Cir.
cling IF rsu~h Space.

So many misleading and erroneous state
ments have been made with reference to
the experiments which Secretary Langley
of the Smithsonian has been conducting In
the sphere of aerial navigation that Prof.
Langley decided yesterday to make an au-
thoritative statement on the subject. Yes
terday afternoon at 3 o'clock representa-
tives of the press were present by special
invitation in his office in the Smithsonian.
The first official amour ement of the sue
cess which has attended his efforts so far
was made in the form of a letter from
Prof Alexander Graham Bell, who recently
witnessed the experiments made down the
Potomac.
The letter, addressed to the editor of The
Evening Star, was as follows:
Last Wednesday, May g. I witnessed a
very remarkable experiment with Prof
Langley's aerodrome on the Potomac river;
indeed, 1t seemed to me that the expert
ment was of such historical Importance
that 1t should be made public.
Il should not feel at liberty to give an
account of all the details, but the main
facts 1 have Prof. Langley's consent for
giving you, and they are as follows:
THE aero drome, or flying machine in
question was of Steel driven by a steam
engine. 1t resemhled an enormous bird.
soaring in the air with extreme regularity
in large curves, sweeping steadily upward
in a spiral path, the spirals with dame
ter Of perhaps 100 yards, until 1t reached a
height Of about 100 feet In the air, at the
end of a course Of about half mile when
the steam gave out. the propellers which
had moved it stopped. and then, to my
further surprise, the whole instead Of tum-
bling down, settled slowly and grace
fully as it is possible for any bird to do
touched the water without any damage
and was Immediately picked out and ready
to be tried again.
"A second trial was like the first except
that the machine went in different dIrec-
ton, moving in one continuous, gentle as
cent as 1t swung around in circles like a
great, soaring bird. At one time it seemed
to be in danger as its course carried it
over a neighboring wooded promontory, but
apprehension was Immediately allayed. as
it passed twenty-five or thirty feet above
the tops of the highest trees there, and as
cendng st II further. its steam finally gave
out again. and 1t settled into the waters of
the river, not quite quarter Of mile
from the point at which 1t arose.
mo one could have witnessed these ex-
periments without being convinced that the
practicabilty Of mechanical flight had been
demonstrated Yours sincerely,
"ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL"
Prof. LnngIey's Statement.
Prof. Langley made a brief supplement-
airy statement in further explanation of
the experiments. He said
The aerodrOme or flying machine has no
gas to lift it. as in the case of balloon,
but on the contrary it is about one thou
sand times heavier, bulk for bulk, than
the air on which 1t is made to run. and
which SuStainS it somewhat in the way
in which thin ice supports,a swift skater.
The power Is derived from a steam en-
CINE through the means Of propellers, but,
owing to the scale on which the actual
aerodrome is built. there has been no con-
densing apparatus to use the water over
and over. Enough can be carried for only
a very brief flight. a difficulty which does
not belong to larger machines than the
present example. in which the supporting
surfaces are but about fourteen feet from
tip to tip. The distance flown each time
was about one-half mile. The rate of speed
depends (as in the case of any vehicle on
land) whether 1t is going on a level
CT up hill. In the case of this last trial of
May e, the machine was ascending, that is
to say, 1t was going up hill all the time,
and went through distance Of one-half
mile more In one and one-half minutes,
at the rate of a little more than twenty
miles hour. The question has often
been asked about the capacity of the aero
drome for carrying passengers. 1t would
seem unnecessary to make the statement,
but / may well say, once for ALL that
1t carried no passengers on this trip"