The sun., 1903-10-08
LANGLEY'S AERODROME FAILS,
yWOOPS INTO THE POTOMAC AND
Ducks PROF. MANLEY,
The COntrivance Goes Only 100 Yaris
Under IFS Initial velocity and Makes
No Progress Of Itself--1he Machine
Wrecked lIadly--Nlanley HODeful.

Wrecked Badly-NIunley Hopeful.
WIDE WATER, Va, Oct AFTER three
months Of almost daily preparation by the
members of the Langley flying machine
expedition off Wide Water, the big steel.
sixv-foot. man-currying aerodrome was
launched from the ho,lseboat Buzzard
shor' ly after noon to-day. The trial proved
10 lie an inglorious failure The aero-
drome hit the water 100 yards from the
launching tracks and was wrecked. Prof.
Charles NJ. Manley. the Geronaut, escaped
with a d,lcking,
Mr. Marley admitted, while changing
his clothes shortly AFTER he was pulled out
Of the river, that the experiment was un-
successful. Prof. Lal gley, when seen this
afternoon at his Office in the Smithsonian
Institution, in Washington, was not In a
cheerful mood.
Ever since tho flying machine expedition
was lowed down the Potomac to Wide
Water, early last June. the scientific men
have hecn waiting. and the tests have
been postponed, presumably on account of
bad weather. The scientific Instruments
perched In row on the superst ricture of
the houseboat Buzzard were apparently
very delicate, ard. according to their indi-
cations, there have been Just three davs
between july and Oct 7suitable for aerial
navigat ion.
On the first trial. after a couple Of months
Of waiting and daily preparation. the in
struments finally agreed. Prof. Manley
said good-by to his relatives and friends,
a signal rocket bomb was sent up to notify
a Government tug two miles down the
river that the airship might be expected
that way shortly, the aeronaut entered
his frail car, ard the spectators held their
breath. The motive power refused to re-
spond TO Prof. Manley's yank of the lever,
however, and cursory examination showed
a broken valve, a misplaced piston, bent
crank, and few other defects In the case
Lone engine which had been overlooked.
On the second suitable day the engines
worked all right, but one Of the proree.s
flew of the shaft and damaged the insides of
the aerodrome. a
At 10 o'clock this morning, the scientific
Instruments all agreeing that the condi-
lions were perfect for aerial navigation,
force OF men was put to work assembling
the aerodrome on the superstruct ure OF
the the Bazzard' sr This was ascomp!ished soon,
bis seat In the navigator's car. He was
cool and confident Of success, but wore
cork jacket. The signal rocket and
Government tug were omitted from the
programme. Prof. Manley merely nodded
TO the assembled scientists. waved his
hand to the man In charge OF the pneu-
matte catapult on which the aerodrome
IoDanHa fnr itS oil w nd 1al
the starting lever wide open.
The aeronaut appeared somewhat sur
prissd when the machine began to move.
The aerodrome slid along the seventy feet
OF elevated tracks at the rate OF about
forty feet a second, darted into the air,
then turned its nose downward and made
for the bottom OF the Potomac,
There was a gasp from the spectators,
yell from the scienti-te on board The
Buzzard and the aerodrome, with Prof.
Manley on board hit the water and sank.
As the model aerodrome, launched month
or so ago, buried it's nose IN the mud OF tie
channel bed ard had to be dragged fol
with graphing irons and pulled up In pieces
there were some anxious moments before
the steel body OF the machine, buoyed
up by number of hollow cylinders, bobbed
up. with Prof. Manley still seated in the
navigator's chair.
fiOI. NuUlSy CT J"Re, sllCOh
the water out Of hi eye and yell d tlat
he was all right. TIE aerodrome apps artd
to be a total wreck. The bamboo and
silk wings We're drenched and smashed,
the steel propele . were broken into bits,
the engine looked rather the worse for wear
and the steel frame OF the airship was
tw-ted and tangled like SO much rope.
A man In rowboat rescued Prof. Manley
from the navigator car, and couple Of
tugs towed the remains Of the aerodrome
back to the Buzzard, where very sober
crew of scientists pulled it out of the water
and slowed it away in sections insi ide tho
houseboat. Owing to the completeness
of the wreck this undoubtedly ends the
flying machine experiments for the present
year.
No one who saw to-day's test of the aero
drome will venture a reason as to why it
didn't fly, other than that offered by an
old native of Wide Water, who remarked,
with shake of his head, as he rowed slowly
back to his home on the shore. that ut
wasn't in tho nature of the beast
The aerodrome did not appear to derive
any momentum from its swiftly revolving
prop Hers.
Shortly after returning to the holseboat
for dry clothing, Prof. Manley made the
following statement through window to
the newspaper men
1T must be understood that the test to-
uly WSs entlrely an experiment hIlu tit' Hist
Of its kind ever made. The experiment
was unsuccessful The balancing, upon
which depended the success of the flight,
was based upon the tests Of the models,
and proved to be incorrect. But only an
actual test of the full size machine itself
could determine this. My confidence in
the future success OF the work il not damp
ened-I mean not shaken
To-day's unsucce cessful trial is not the
first setback that Prof. Langley has had
since he began his experiments in n"rlal
navigation more than twenty years ago.
Practically only once since he began hls
efforts to construct mechanical bird has
Prof Langley obtained a glimpse OF the
goal which he has 20 persistently sought.
This was in lS06-seveu years ago when
two models sent up by Prof Langley ana
his assistants, under their own motive
power, furnished by gasoene engine oi
the type used in to-days experiment, sailed
upward of half mile On these occasions
the model aerodromes assembled in the face
OF a moderate wind and sailed along a horl-
zontal plane at velocity of about twenty
five miles an hour, until their engines ran
down. when they settled gradually and with
In itIry To tho at,rf of the Potomac.