Langley Memoir on Mechanical Flight, Parts I and II / Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, Volume 27 Number 3, Publication 1948, 1911

by S. P. Langley; Charles M. Manly

PL. 99. AERODROME IN WATER, OCTOBER 7, 1903 [◊]

PL. 100. AERODROME IN WATER, OCTOBER 7, 1903 [◊]

However, the funds which had been appropriated by the Board of Ordnance and Fortification had been exhausted nearly two years before, and all the expense since that time had been met from a special fund of the Smithsonian Institution. But, owing to the heavy drains which the work had made upon this fund, Mr. Langley felt unwilling to draw further upon it, and since there were no other funds available from which to meet the expenses which would be incurred by postponing the experiments until spring, it was decided that it was practically a case of “now or never,” and although the river was full of large blocks of floating ice several inches thick, which added enormously to the danger involved in the experiment, the writer decided to make the test immediately so that the long-hoped-for success, which seemed so certain, could be finally achieved.

After considerable delay, due to the great difficulty of properly assembling the huge wings in the strong and gusty wind, into which the boat could not be kept directly pointed, owing both to the strong tide which was running and to the fact that the wind itself was rapidly varying through as great a range as ninety degrees, and after many minor delays, due to causes too numerous to mention, the aerodrome was finally ready for test.

The wind was exceedingly gusty, varying in velocity from twelve to eighteen miles per hour and shifting its direction most abruptly and disconcertingly, so that the aerodrome was at one moment pointed directly into it and at the next moment side gusts striking under the port or starboard wings would wrench the frame severely, thus tending to twist the whole machine from its fastenings on the launching car. After starting up the engine and bringing it to full speed, the writer gave the signal for the machine to be released, and it started quietly, but at a rapidly accelerated pace, down the launching track. Exactly what happened, either just before or just as the aerodrome reached the end of the track, it has been impossible to determine, as all the workmen and visitors had gone to their stations on the various auxiliary boats, except the two workmen (Mr. Reed and Mr. McDonald) who had been retained on top of the boat to assist in the launching. It had grown so dark that the cameras of Mr. Smillie, the official photographer, were unable to get any impression when he used them, owing to the extreme rapidity of the shutters with which they were equipped. Fortunately, one photograph of the machine while still in the air was secured, which shows the result of what had occurred in the launching and before any further damage had been caused by its coming down into the water, but the all-important question as to just what caused the accident which did occur remains to a certain extent a mystery. [p272]

Mr. Reed, the foreman, who was qualified to observe accurately, not only through his having worked continuously for many years on the machines, but also from his having witnessed the numerous tests of the models, states that from his position near the rear end of the launching track he noticed that at a point about ten feet before the machine reached the end of the track the Pénaud tail seemed to have dropped at the rear end in some inexplicable way so that it was dragging against the cross-pieces of the track, and that at the next instant, when the car reached the end of the track, he saw the machine continue onward, but the rudder and whole rear portion of the frame and the wings seemed to be dragging on the launching car. Mr. McDonald, the head machinist, states that he had his attention so concentrated on the engine, which he noticed was working perfectly and driving the propellers at a higher rate of speed than he had ever before seen it do, that he did not see anything happen until he saw the machine shoot upward in the air, gradually attaining a vertical position with its bow upward, where it was sustained for a few moments by the upward thrust of the propellers. After a few moments, however, the strong wind, which was blowing from twelve to eighteen miles an hour directly ahead and acting against the wings which were now vertical, drove the machine backwards towards the house-boat, and he saw it come down into the water on its back, with the writer gradually righting himself in accordance with the turning of the machine until he was finally hidden from view by the machine coming down on top of him. The witnesses on the tug-boats seem not to have been able to perceive exactly what occurred. All unite in stating that something seemed to happen to the machine just a few feet before the launching car reached the end of the track, but what it was they could not say. Everyone who saw the accident and who was sufficiently familiar with the construction of the machine to be able intuitively to form an idea as to just what was taking place was so very close to the machine that when the accident happened everything seemed to merge into one vision, which was that of the whole rear of the wings and rudder being completely destroyed as the machine shot upward at a rapidly increasing angle until it reached the vertical position previously mentioned.

The writer can only say that from his position in the front end of the machine, where he was facing forward and where his main attention was directed towards insuring that the engine was performing at its best, he was unable to see anything that occurred at the rear of the machine, but that just before the machine was freed from the launching car he felt an extreme swaying motion immediately followed by a tremendous jerk which caused the machine to quiver all over, and almost instantly he found the machine dashing ahead with its bow rising at a very rapid rate, and that he, therefore, swung the wheel which controls the Pénaud tail to its extreme downward limit of motion. Finding that [p273] this had absolutely no effect, and that by this time the machine had passed its vertical position and was beginning to fall backwards, he swung himself around on his arms, from which he supported himself, so that in striking the water with the machine on top of him he would strike feet foremost. The next few moments were for him most intense, for he found himself under the water with the machine on top of him, and with his cork-lined canvas jacket so caught in the fittings of the framework that he could not dive downward, while the floor of the aviator’s car, which was pressing against his head, prevented him from coming upward. His one thought was that if he was to get out alive he would have to do so immediately, as the pressure of the water on his lungs was beginning to make itself seriously felt. Exerting all of the strength he could muster, he succeeded in ripping the jacket entirely in two and thus freeing himself from the fastenings which had accidentally held him, he dived under the machine and swam under the water for some distance until he thought he was out from under the machine. Upon rising to the surface his head came in contact with a block of ice, which necessitated another dive to get free of the ice. Upon coming to the surface of the water he noticed Mr. Hewitt, one of the workmen, just about to plunge in; before he could call out to indicate he was safe, Mr. Hewitt had heroically plunged in with the expectation of diving under the machine where he believed the writer to be entangled. Finding the house-boat was being rapidly shoved upon him, imperilling the life of both himself and Mr. Hewitt, besides the safety of the aerodrome, the writer gave orders that the tug-boat reverse and tow the house-boat away. Then, with the assistance of a row-boat, he reached the house-boat, where willing hands drew him on board and assisted him into dryer and warmer clothing.

Meanwhile, it had become quite dark, and when the writer went outside to see about the aerodrome he found that the men on the tug-boat, in their zeal to render assistance, had fastened a rope to the rear end of the machine, at the same time pulling it in the direction in which the front end was pointed, and through their ignorance had forced it down into the muddy bottom of the river and broken the main framework completely in two, thus rendering it absolutely impossible with the facilities at hand to remove it from the water to the interior of the boat. It was finally necessary to tie the wrecked machine to the stern of the house-boat and have the boat towed to its dock where the mast and boom were assembled and the wrecked machine hoisted from the water. This was finally accomplished about midnight, when the workmen, who had been working at a fever heat all day, were glad to close up the work for the day, which had proved so unfortunate.