PL. 95. FLIGHT OF LARGE AERODROME, OCTOBER 7, 1903 [◊]
PL. 96. FLIGHT OF LARGE AERODROME, OCTOBER 7, 1903 [◊] PHOTOGRAPH BY T. W. SMILLIE
After recovering the machine the foreman of the workmen (Mr. Reed) [who together with Mr. McDonald were the only ones on top of the boat when the launching actually took place], busied himself to discover what had caused the jerk to the machine at the moment it was released, which had been immediately followed by the great depression of the front end. After some little time he discovered that the upright guide at the extreme front of the launching car (which, as heretofore stated, was slotted to receive a metal lug projecting from the end of the guy-post, and thus prevent the front end of the [p267] framework from being twisted by a side wind striking the machine while it was still on the launching car) had been distorted, the metal cap on it being stretched out of shape in a way which indicated that the pin of the front guy-post had hung in the cap, and that the guy-post was not therefore free from this part of the car when the end of the launching track dropped. The shock which the writer felt at the moment of launching and which had also been seen by others to occur was thus conclusively shown to have been due to the falling track, dragging the front end of the machine down with it. As the machine was travelling forward and the car had been almost instantly brought to a standstill by its buffer pistons co-acting with the buffer cylinders at the foot of the track, this front guy-post had been pulled backwards, and thus not only pulled the main guy-wires of the wings backwards and thereby depressed the front edge of the front wings so that they had no angle of inclination, but had also bent the front end of the metal framework downward,—effects which were discovered from the later examination of the frame and the guy-post itself. From the instantaneous photographs which were obtained, indisputable evidence was obtained that this was what actually occurred. Referring to the photograph, Plate [95], which was taken by Mr. G. H. Powell, Secretary of the Board of Ordnance and Fortification, and which shows the machine just a few feet in front of the point where it was actually launched, it will at once be seen that the front end of the frame is bent downward and that the front guy-post instead of being parallel with the rear one has been deflected backward at the lower end through an angle of 30 degrees. Referring further to the photograph, Plate [96], which was taken at the same instant as the one just described, it will be seen that even this one, which is a view of the machine as it passed almost directly over Mr. Smillie’s head, most clearly shows the extreme extent to which the front wings had been distorted, the rear edges of the wings near the frame having been twisted up until they struck the cross-frame, and the outer ends being free to twist had been forced up very much higher.
After completing the recovery of the machine and the examination as to the extent of the injuries it had sustained, and finding unquestionable evidence that the accident had been caused by the front guy-post hanging in its guide block on the launching car, the workmen were set to work straightening out and arranging the various parts, fittings and accessories, and cleaning up the engine which fortunately had sustained no injury whatever. After a consultation in Washington with Mr. Langley, who had been unable to be present at the experiment, both concerning what had already occurred and also what should be done regarding the future of the work, and in view of the fact that the statement which the writer had given to the press representatives, immediately after the accident, had been made before there had been time to make an examination of the machine itself, it was decided that it would be best to give to the press [p268] a short statement to correct the earlier one, and Mr. Langley accordingly made public the following note:
“Mr. Langley states that he was not an eye witness of the experiment at Widewater yesterday, having been detained in Washington by business, but that on the report of Mr. Manly, immediately in charge, he is able to say that the latter’s first impression that there had been defective balancing was corrected by a minuter examination, when the clutch, which held the aerodrome on the launching ways and which should have released it at the instant of the fall, was found to be injured.
“The machinery was working perfectly and giving every reason to anticipate a successful flight, when this accident (due wholly to the launching mechanism) drew the aerodrome abruptly downward at the moment of release and cast it into the water near the house-boat. The statement that the machine failed for lack of power to fly was wholly a mistaken one.
“The engine, the frame and all the more important parts were practically uninjured. The engine is actually in good working order. The damage done was confined to the slighter portions, like the canvas wings and propellers, and these can be readily replaced.
“The belief of those charged with the experiment in the ultimate successful working of the machine is in no way affected by this accident, which is one of the large chapter of accidents that beset the initial stages of experiments so novel as the present ones. It is chiefly unfortunate in coming at the end of the season when outdoor work of this sort is impossible.
“Whether the experiments will be continued this year or not has not yet been determined.”