Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-12-09
A|RSH|P FAILS TO FLY
Prof. Langley's Machine Goes
to River Bottom.
PROF, MANLY ABOARD
THE LATTER RESCUED FROM
PERILoUs POSITION.
Test Of the Airship Off the Arsenal
Point Yesterday Afternoon
Large Crowd Present.

The test of the Langley aerodrome at the
| confluence of the Potomac river with the
| Eastern branch yesterday afternoon was a
complete failure. The sixty-foot machine
| perfect bit of mechanism, was launched
| at exactly 4:45 o'clock. Within thirty sec
onds 1t had described a half somersault,
doubled up like an athlete taking a hurdle,
and had fallen into the river, broken and
twisted into mass of wood, steel and
linen, with it's nose in the mud on the river
bottcm. Prof. Charles NJ. Manly, who at
tempted to fly the machine. was buried
urder the mass of debris, but was quickly
rescued by Fred Hewitt one of the work
men on the houseboat. and Private Addison
of the Signal Cops, U. S. A. The airship
vas a complete wreck Prof. Samuel
Langley, inventor of the Inflated machine,
said the collapse was due to defect in
the launching mechanism. The conditions
were said to be absolutely perfect for the
! test.
| The long period of preparation and wait
ing put on edge the nerves of even the
most sanguine of those connected with
the airship. Everybody was under strong
tension and excitement from the start,
and the catastrophe which brought the test
to a conclusion fell like a wet blanket on
every one. While there were many skeptlcs
in the crowd of people who witnessed the
test yesterday, there were few who did not
spired By Prof. Manly. While he had
never said he believed the machine would
fly perfectly in the test of yesterday, it is
known that both he and Prof. Langley had
the strongest hope that 1t would be success
full. The intricate work and delicate ar
rangements of the thousand and one parts
| of the aerodrome represent the work of
years.
Work Of the Inventor.
| Prof Langley has spent the best part Of
| his life working out the problem Of aerial
navigation. and has contributed many val
liable papers to science on this subject He
| is probably the foremost authority in the
| world on aerodromes and aeroplanes, and
| has been experimenting with machines for
| many years. The one which yesterday
stuck in the mud at the bottom of the
Potomac represented the results of these
years Of experiment and study, and demon
strated clearly In the minds of many that
the airship of commerce has not yet ar
rived. The expense Of the experiments that
have been carried on has been partly borne
by the United States government, an APP
preparation of $4,000 having been used for
the purpose. .--. ..
The trials of the Langley airship have
been uppermost in the public mind for al
most six months. Early in the summer the
huge houseboat built to be used as Hoar-
ing workshop. was towed down to a point
near Whitewater, Va. where the prepara-
lions for the test were begun. The ma
chlne, on winch mecnanlcS had Deeu a.
work for months was carefully completed
inside the houSebOat. The utmost secrecy
was observed and no one not connected
with the airship project was permitted 10
the aerodrome. The windows in ne boat
were kept tightly closed all day and at
night. There were half a dozen Or more
workmen employed on the construction. =.
The first test was made with a model Of
the larger machine within few weeks
after the boat left It's pier in this city, and
proved to be a comparative failure, but
gave uragement to the promoters An
other and more complete test was male
October T. with the machine tested yester-
day. On this occasion the ship raised Itself
above the launching apparatus and IL sald
to have flown about one hundred yards
before 1t dropped into the river. At that
time, 1t is said, there was a defect in the
launching car which retarded the progress
of the ship and which is alleged to have
caused the failure. Late in October the
houseboat and it's lenders came up tho river
and the ark was tied up at the foot of Sth
street southwest.
An Important Feature.
The houseboat Is an important part OF
the airship apparatus, 1t Is from its roof
the ship is launched. In order to prevent
any trouble whatever Prof Langley has
caused to be constructed huge system of
| trestlework and platforms on the top of
| his houseboat. and on this rest the tracks
for the launching car. The base of the
| tracks is fixed in such manner that it
can be turned In any direction, like a turn
| table. The tracks project over the rear end
| OF the houseboat, and at this point are SO
| fixed that when the car is shot from the
| opposite end by means of steel springs and
has reached the extreme end of the track,
the car and track alike collapse and leave
the ship in the air. with no support other
| than that provided by its own wings aero
planes and propellers. The track is built
so that the airship shall be entirely clear
of anything that may tend to prevent a
flight. There was slight projection on
this track. which caught In the ship itself
during the launching October T. The fact
that the ship. as well as the model, did fly
a short distance encouraged Profs. Langley
and Manly to hope that their work was
not in vain. They brought the boat back,
therefore. for the purpose of correcting the
defect in the track and to make another
test.
The arrangements for this experiment
were completed last week. and Saturday
everything about the houseboat was In
readiness. The place selected was the CEN
ter of the space between Giesboro' Point.
the Arsenal Point, the Virginia shore and
the Potomac flats. The river at this point
is over two miles wide. and II the machine