Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-09-16
MANLY ON DYNAMICS
LANGLEY'S ASSISTANT HAS CON-
FIDENCE IN BUzZARD.
Inventor Still Has Faith, but Could
Not Wait for Bird to
Soar,


Special Dispatch to The Evening Star.
Underwater. Va, September 18-Prof.
Charles M. Manly, the chief assistant of
Prof. Samuel P. Langley in the flying ma
| chine experiments and the prospective nav
igator Of the aerodrome, maintains I'M
wavering confidence in the ultimate sue
cess of the invention.
The several accidents which have oc-
CURED in the efforts to get the. machine in
| a proper condition for a launching have not
affected Prof. Manly's belief in the cor
rectness of the principles involved nor in
the excellence of the general design and
construction of the big steel air navigator.
Having entered with zeal and enthusiasm
into the work of assisting Prof. Langley
to apply the principles of aerodynamics he
had investigated in the building of d man
carrying aerodrome, the chief assistant has
not allowed himself to be unduly discour-
| aged by the mishaps which have shaken the
faith of many observers. The most ample
evidence of his confidence in the machine
| Is his willingness to intrust himself in it
for an aerial voyage and his pers.stant eff
forts to bring about such a voyage at the
earliest possible opportunity.
Langley Still interested.
And although Professor Langley HIM
self is now away from the scene of
the experiments there is nothing. so
far as is known here to indicate
that the recent troubles Of the expedi-
ton have caused him to relax his inter-
est or to alter his opinion as to final
success. The fact that the inventor Is
| away from the vicinity of Whitewater does
not In any way mean that he has become
discouraged by the repeated setbacks. 1t
is learned here that he intended to remain
a while in Boston. where he has relatives,
and that he contemplated European trip.
presumably for MS health. but whether or
not he will finally decide upon the latter
course cannot be ascertained at Whitewater.
Prof. Langley with his intimate knowl-
edge Of the many and varied difficulties at
every step in airship experiments, was fully
aware all along that he might be unable
to be a witness of the actual flight. His
departure, after being here on several diff
ferent occasions and remaining once or
twice for several consecutive days was not
at all at variance with what he had antici-
pated at the beginning of the present series
of tests.
Public Skepticism.
It is known that those in the confidence
of the inventor have been somewhat disap-
pointed by the apparent failure of the pub
| lie to fully understand the extremely deli
cate nature Of the flying machine expert
| ments. Even casual glance at the his
tory Of Prof. Langley's practical investiga-
| tons in mechanical flight throughout the
past fifteen years is sufficient. the Smith
sonian scientists believe, to show that many
failures in many ways have to be expected
before success is attained They point to
the fact that the notable achievements with
the model flying machine on the Potomac
near Quantico several years ago followed
Immediately after the most discouraging
and repeated failures. Nothing but the ut
most persstency enabled the inventor to
achieve the wonderful success of sending
his flying machines several times through
the air for distances approximating three
quarters Of mile. The same persistency
| in the face of all discouragements, the sci
entists realize, is necessary now in the
more difficult and important experiments
with the sixtyfoot aerodrome