Evening star., 1925-05-04
WALCOTT is SILENT.
Refuses to Comment on Plane Dis
pute Inquiry.

Refusing to comment on the state
ment of Representative FitZgerald in
regard to congressional inveStiga :
ton of the Langley plane contro-
TerSy, DR.. Walcott today said he did
not wish to continue the public con-
rroyersy with Mr. Wright but made
II plain he would not let the matter
drop. In the future, if anything
comes up he declared, there may
he others who will have something to
say DR.. Walcotu said, II wish |
knew why Wright started this We
have given him and his brother the
fullest credit and recognition for
their achievements"
y detailed statement of the Smith
sonian's position on the charge by
Mr.. Wright that the Langley plane
was ''mutilated" after being turned
over to the museum, was issued last
night under DR.. Walcott's hand A
letter from Mr.. Wright, written
March 26, 1910. in reply to DR.. Wal
colts request for an example of the
Wright machine for the National
Museum, was made public. At that
time Mr.. Wright declared I'VE can
reconstruct the 1903 machine with
which the first flights We're made al
Kitty Hawk. Most of the parts are
still in existence" This was given as
an illustration that the plane now in
possession of Mr.. Wright is not the
craft in its entirety that it was at
Kitty Hawk in 1903
Test Made in 1914.
After the Langley plane had crash
&c in 1903 and remained diSmantled
IN the institution here until 1914
where it was tested in New York
State with modification DR.. WaIcott
Mt
charge of the construction work of
the original machine, carefully re.
stored the parts that had been broken
or marred in the crashes of 1903 and
the tests at Hammondsport Every
one who ever knew Mr. Reed will
be prepared to take his oath that no
power in heaven or earth could have
persuaded him to alter, even by SO
much as a fly speck, any detail OF
the original design
DR.. Walcot, said 'Mr. Wright OBJ
jects to the label" on the plane now
on exhibition here, which reads:
Original Langley flying machine
1903; the first man-carryiRg aeroplane
in the history of the world capable OF
sustained free flight. Invented. built
and tested over the Potomac River
by Samuel Pierpont Langley in 1903
Successfully flown at Hammondsport
y. Y, June p 1914. Dimensions: 81
feet long, As feet wide; sustaining
wing surface. 1.O40 square feet"
Thinks Label Correct.
DIR. WaIcott said he believed this
label to be correct for the following
reasons:
Because I saw the full size Langley
airplane, without essential modifica.
.tions from that now on exhibition
which l know to be as nearly identical
with the original as human skill car
make it, rise from the water on Lake
keuka in short flights when largely
overweighted.
: Because a quarter scale gasoline
driven model, which was an exact
prototype of the large machine, flew
and balanced itself perfectly in 1903
The word original is used in the
label quoted above in the same sense
that it would be applied to the Kitty
Hawk Wright machine in 1903. when
restored as described by the Wright
Brothers letter of March 26, 1910"
Thinks Grievance Fancied.
Il do not know" continued DR.
Nalcott, that the American public is
interested . the details of opinion OF
Mr.. WrigE and myself, in relation tC
the trials e the Langley aeroplane
but / feel assured that it is deeply
interested in any attempt to remove
from America. the home of the sue
ceSsful aeroplane, the original ma
chine that first carried q man in fiigh
and that it would deeply deplore any
fanCied grievance with an individual
being given as the reason for sucf
an unusual action, in view of the
numerous great museums in tht
country which would gladly place thu
Kitty Hawk machine on exhibition anC
give it the utmost publicity"
DIR. Walcott's plan to give the Lang
ley plane another trial. in 1914 me
with the approval of DIR. Albert f
Zahm, honorary recorder of the Lang
ley aerodynamical laboratory, which
was the forerunner of the presen
national advisory committee for aero
nautics, of which DIR. Walcott ha.
been chairman since 1919. DIR. Zahn
agreeing" he declared, Il then talked
with DR. Alexander Graham Bell, who
was most enthusiastic and said tina
the Langley aeroplane should certain
1y be given tests if ii was possible t
do so. ! asked Mr.. Glenn Curtiss i
he would not undertake the tests anC
submit an estimate of the approximate
cost of restoring and testing the ma
chine over the waters of Lake keuka
The estimate was submitted, approved
and the aeroplane was taken out o.
the Smithsonian shops and shipped tt
Hammondsport in April, 1914. 1t wa:
not an historical relic belonging to the
National Museum, but an aeroplant
LETT with the Smithsonian institution
by the War Department for expert
mental purposes"