The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1904-06-10

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spent will have to be added to repair
the .aerodrome and to construct new
launching arrangements which will
enable II to. start out upon its voyage
through the air.
A Talk with Mr. Langley.
I asked Mr.. Langley to give me the
reasons for the failures of last fail
He replied:s
J There have been no failures as far
as the actual test of the flying capac-
ity OF the machine is concerned. 1t
has not had a chance to show what 1t
viii do. The difficulty so far has been
with the launching, where we least ex-
pected IT. and where we had reasons
to believe that our condl..ons were
perfect. The launching is very SER
ious matter In aerial navigation, how
serious was not understood until be-
gan my experiments with The small
aerodrome which you saw fly. After
many changes I invented the launch
ing apparatus which worked with the
machine had more than twenty
flights from It. and it never famed -.
I thought had just what was needed
for the larger machine and built
launching ways on a proportionately
larger scale. I was still surer of this
when. 1 launched an exact model OF
this large machine upon flight shcrt-
ly before the other trials were made.
and was surprised to find that the
same arrangements would not work
as well with the great aerodrome-
The front platform of its ways drops
down in the launching like disap-
pearing gun carriage, and this was the
Immediate cause of the trouble
why the Big Aerodrome Did Not Fly.
Here Is a photograph of the ma
chine on the launching stage" con.ln-
ued Mr.. Langley as he showed me
snap shot taken by the photographer
of the institution shortly before the
trial. Our idea was that the engine
on the flying machine would carry It
of into the air and that 1t would leave
the launching stage unippaired and un-
injured. On the contrary. a part OF
the machine was caught as 1t went for-
ward by the falling platform. This
pulled the machine down before 1t got
into the air. at the same time twisting
one Of the wings entirely out of shape.
as you may see from another photo-
graph which was made by Mr.. Smile
at the time. The twisting of this wig
threw the machine out of balance End
helped to dash II down into the water.
You might as we'll expect a bird to
maintain itself in the air wifi a ,rok-
en- wing as a flying machine, which =
lies upon its wings to steady IL, to ~
when one of those wings is twisted or
broken. The result was .Mat the ma
cchine went into the water carrying
the intrepid engineer (Mr. Manly with
it,"
How about your second attempt.
Mr.. langley"
The result of the second launch
at thisfirst. At that time one
of the stern wing was caught
in almost the same way and
was thrown out of place, resulting
In the overturning of the aerodrome
and its plunging agin into the water
before a flight could be begun. Had
1t not been for these accidents have
every reason to believe the machine
would have made a successful flight.
1 think there is no doubt but that 1t
will fly, but so far 1T has had no OPP
portunity to do So"
Then you consider your invention
a success?'
Nothing is absolute success until
1t is proved so by actual test. l cannot
say the machine is a success In that
respect, for IT has never been tested.
l have, however, every reason to be-
lieve that 1t will be success. We
have taken into consideration every
and its plungine again into the water
element with which to contend; wefSy
element with which we have to
contend; we have calculated and tes-
there is anything in scientific engi-
neering, this will fly
Tell me about the flight of your
model?''
That flight was so remarkable"
said Mr.. Langley that / was surprised
4 that 1t did not attract more attention
It was made on August of last year,
being the first time in history of in
vention that any successful flight
took place in public. The model car
ried a gas engine three-horse power,
which drove it through the air for a
distance of little less than a quar-
ter of mile. 1t then stopped only be-
| cause of a defect. 1t left the launch
ing stage without trouble, and this as
sured us that 1t was all right for the
! larger machine
| The LiEhtest Gas Engine Ever Made.
Then 1 suppose you use gas en-
CINE in this large machineT
YES" replied Mr.. Langley we
have a gas engine of extraordinary
lightness for the very conslueraS4e
horse power. The engine was one of
my chief difficulties. l am not an en-
gineer, and indeed. 1 snould not nave
ATTEMPTED to construct the machine
had l known the trouble l should
have in getting the proper engine. In
1898 made a contract with an Amer
| lean builder for a suitable engine. e
azraad IN deliver one within a year but