New-York tribune., 1903-07-16
ITS FIRST FLIGHT SOON.
Professor Langlegs Big Airship
4bOut To Be Tested.
TrROM rHrrErsrNE RuzxAu. l

Washington. July 15-The big Smithsonian house
boat with the first United States Government flying
Langley LETT " ashngtOn early this morning IN tow
oi a tug bound for the Potomac wide water below
Ouantico where in the few weeks the first
test OF vapor driven seropane carrying men 20
control and steer il. VIII be conducted by c. NJ.
Manly Professor Langley assistant the professor
himself being away in the North Although
plausible attempts have been made public To
describe the mechanism. 1t is said authovitatvey
tnat they nave been largely poor guess work and
If the coming experiments can be made with as
~ luuch secrecy as the eXperlmenters are confident
Lansiey preliminary work until deliberately
picion astonishing tales that likely TO be printed
Wllnn WL1 [e" days although the nrst night Is no,
adjustments are necessary.
straraS nv r1sS9 - y ,siGI - ,Su
principle Of soaring flight. and after years o.
same locality showed that dirigiblity praCtica-
ME he has been unceasing in his work. with the
assistance of other special experts the problem
OF securing sufficient power TO lift and propel a
work he has been compelled to expend an ap1ro 95
the Army u BSSrS f oS SonsrssS an allotment from
again received from private contributions.
duced he emharks with more misgiy-ngs and less
bi bbinnGe2ce than have been manifested by many OF
twenty years Of study this problem he believes
least of another notable advsnc e sI success S az
a few years III
PROFESSOR Langley's general plan ike that of
Sir hiram Maxim's hying machine and the ap-
pararus used by Lilienthal in his gliding ex-
pertments. is to rely exclusively on the aeroDlans
Tor support This acts the principle that gives
ouoyancy TO card thrown edgewise HORIZONTALLY
ANY hght nat object will be kept ahoat bv the air
alone SO long as the thing moves rapidly The
gas nag OF the Saptos-Dumont school is discarded
entirely
LiienthaI first began with a single outstretched
a@orlc, tt reaching further sidewise than fore and
a1t, and he seated himself near the middle He
hao rudders TO steer to right or left and I'D or
| down He employed no motive power and merely
mace snort flights after jumping from a housetop
/ OF the brow of a hill When ne had learned how
| 10 balance himself and under favorable weather
| cohultlons ne would then slide gently down an
! aerial slope several hundred feet long Chanute
| an American, did the same. Both he and IdIien-
| @ @anaI IN later experiments, placed tvo and three
with light stays thus securing a larger amount Of
sSRPoEqng & TI surface for the same lateral spread
aeroPlane- Ills flrst machine big end heavy
| ana had powerful steam engine TO drive its pro
/ pellers- The tesCs first made with it about ten
Years ago, We're designed to ascertain wnat hori-
zoiL'aI % speeu could De made. Hence the machine
! was mounted on wheels aPd then placed upon a
of twenty-five miles an nodr could be deveI5I'ei
AAlthopgh A provision for preventing such an acct
to the ground It Was bady n9 9as 1sn IeiI II neEIy
| quence: Since that time no special activity has
| been shown by Sir Hiram.
| Professor Langley began with a small model.
| which could be easily transported and managed
| and which would test the principles hc had i'm
/ mind He employed two aerOplanes. but he put
| one behind the other. instead OF following the
| two story arrangement Another difference be-
| tween his plan and Maxim's that Langley's
aeroplanes were not perfectly straight all the way
from tip TO tip but were bent slightly, the
| outer ends were higher than the middle. The
| two halves of each aeroplane then looked like
| wings, and the whole device reSembled a four
winged bird The great beauty of this double
| change that Langley'S aeroplane was less
liable to tip sideways. The deeper a yachts
keel, the more stable she is in high wind Lang
| ley carries his ballaSt-that is the machinery and
| live load-relatively lower than Maxim did.
| ton enthusiast began his attempts TO fly mode
| over secluded part OF the Potomac Nine secret
| excursions were made from the city without
| launching system. Five trials were made IL
the spring of 1884, with the result In Oc
tober of that year he improved the launching
I process. and then encountered difficulties. Tn
little aerodroms would either plunge in tn
most astonishing fashion. At length the invento
discovered that these freaks due to tn
heMbilfty and baggtness Of the cloth stretched OF
the wing frames. Even a momentary distortion o
the level surface would make mischief.
On May and November Is 1886, successful trials
were made with other light models. On the frs
and half and covered about half a mile. On
the second trip II a tri1e further anC
achieved a speed of thirty miles an hour. Botl
times the model sank gently to the surface Of IN,
fected from the top Of a houseboat which served
the double purpose Of a transport and scanold-
The stretch wings in the May model wa!
10 or 13 feet, the total length Of the backbone i
feet and the weight of the machine only thirty
pounds. The boiler and engine together weighed
about seven pounds, the former contributing dvt
| TO that total and the engine only LWenty-sE
| ounces The latter carable OF developing Ont
horsepower or more. It had two p-opelers. one OF
each side nearly amfdships. The engine made
from 500 to 200 revolutions.