Evening star., 1940-05-28
Langley Aides Live to View
His Failure as Fantastic
D. c. Men Worked
On Motor for
Air Experiment


FantasticH Not to two Washing.
tonians who had precisely that ex.
perience. And the resultant feeling
OF Illustration and piwllderment Il
too real memory for comfort today
to these two, even after 81 years.
1t was shortly after the turn oi
the century that Fred Hewitt, now
editor Of the ofiiciai journal OF the
international Association OF Ma
chinists, and Richard 8. Newman
former general auditor Of the ma
chinists, came here from New York
to help construct a strange new de-
vice conceived by DR.. Samuel Pier
pont Langley. DR.. Langley, then
secretary of the Smithsonian Insti-
tuition, supervised the building OF
what the Smithsonian has described
as "the first heavier than-air craft
IN the history OF the world. capable
OF sustained free flight under its
own power, carrying a man."
No Part In Argument.
Those words capable of" caused
a controversy that remains unsettled
to this day. But ex-mechanics
Hewitt and Newham are not con-
cerned with the argument. They
did their part in creating DR.. Lang
leys "aerodrome" and its success o,
failure Is for aviation historians to
decide.
DR.. Langley was a pioneer in the
science OF aerodynamics; in fact, he
is credited with originating the term
He had flown model airships sue
cessfully. He was convinced that
given a motor light and powerful
enough. he could assemble a machine
that would fly man in the air
Hewitt and Newham were needed
because they haG oeen working on
Just such a type of engine as DR.
Langley felt that he needed.
The engine, originally designed
by Stephen M. Balzer, was a five.
cylinder radial type-something new
IN its time. DR.. Charles E. Manly
DR.. Langley's assistant, had Messrs
Hewitt and NEWMAN and the othe,
mechanics enlarge the cylinders
put on water jackets and otherwise
rebuild the motor. At last DR.
Langley believed that this was the
engine that would fly the first air.
plane in world history.
Congress Votes Faith.
So confident and persuasive was
DR.. Langley that he had obtained
q $4,000 appropriation from Con-
gress to conduct his experiments.
For protection to the pilot ir
such an unprecedented enterprise II
was decided that the first tes,
should be made over water. A cata.
pult was constructed atop a house.
boat. In an attempt at secrecy
(this was a War Department prof.
ect of possible military value) the
houseboat, would-be airplane anc
all were set up about 40 miles down
the Potomac in the summer of 1903
Newspapermen had gotten winc
OF the venture and camped nearby
trying to pick up information. DR.
Langleys absorption in his worl
caused him to treat the reporters
abruptly, and the newsmen, in re.
tahation. ridiculed his machine as q
"buzzard," lame duck and
''Langley's folly"
After weeks Of preparation the
great day came: October Z, 1907
just nine days before the Wright
brothers success In a similar trial
at Kitty Hawk, N. c.
A large crowd assembled for the
potentially historic moment. The
catapult track was pointed into the
wind. DR.. Manly sat at the con.
trolls. The motor was a marvel OF
engineering and the airplane body
had been painstakingly adapted
from models that had flown sue.
cessfully. DR.. Langley and all who
worked under him felt certain Of
success. At last the trigger was
sprung.
Launching Device Fails.
Down the catapult track sped the
airplane. At the end, it should
have, theoretically, launched itself
straight forward and begun fligh,
under its own power. But it never
had the chance Some flaw in the
launching mechanism tilted the nose
Of the craft downward at q critical
moment. The airplane churned
headlong into the river. DR.. Manly
was uninjured and his faith in the
craft unshaken.
Doggedly, the "aerodrome" was
repaired and rebuilt. On December
3 1t was ready for another test, this
time near what Is now Hams Point.
Defects in the catapult had been
remedied. Many Government Off
cials, Army and Navy officers and
congressional leaders came to OBJ
serve the anticipated triumph. DR..
Manly again took the pilots seat.
The plane took OF smoothly and
began a majestic flight over the
river. A shout went up from the
spectators, but it was cut short.
For, after sailing about 200 feet, the
airplane swirled upward, turned
over in q complete loop and dived
into the water, breaking q thin
skim of ice.
Mr.. Hewitt, fully clothed, leaped
from the houseboat and swan to
DR.. Manly's assistance. Miracu-
lously, the brave pilot again escaped
without serious injury. No one, not
DR.. Manly or DR.. Langley or any
one else, has advanced a wholly
acceptable reason as to why the
second attempt failed. ..
His congressional subsidy spent
and the confidence of his hackers
gone, DR.. Langley was unable to
armed only with rifles was reported
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