ld
raise or lower the craft by moving the rear rudder up and down; he could
steer right or left by moving the vertical rudder. He had no ailerons
nor wing-warping mechanism, but for lateral balance depended on the
dihedral angle of the wings and upon suitable movements of his weight or
of the vertical rudder.

After the adjustments for actual flight had been made in the Curtiss
factory, according to the minute descriptions contained in the Langley
Memoir on Mechanical Flight, the aeroplane was taken to the shore of
Lake Keuka, beside the Curtiss hangars, and assembled for launching. On
a clear morning (May 28th) and in a mild breeze, the craft was lifted
on to the water by a dozen men and set going, with Mr Curtiss at the
steering wheel, esconced in the little boat-shaped car under the forward
part of the frame. The four-winged craft, pointed somewhat across the
wind, went skimming over the waveless, then automatically headed into
the wind, rose in level poise, soared gracefully for 150 feet, and
landed softly on the water near the shore. Mr Curtiss asserted that he
could have flown farther, but, being unused to the machine, imagined
that the left wings had more resistance than the right. The truth is
that the aeroplane was perfectly balanced in wing resistance, but turned
on the water like a weather vane, owing to the lateral pressure on
its big rear rudder. Hence in future experiments this rudder was made
turnable about a vertical axis, as well as about the horizontal axis
used by Langley. Henceforth the little vertical rudder under the frame
was kept fixed and inactive.[*]

That the Langley aeroplane was subsequently fitted with an 80
horse-power Curtiss engine and successfully flown is of little interest
in such a record as this, except for the fact that with the weight
nearly doubled by the new engine and accessories the machine flew
successfully, and demonstrated the perfection of Langley's design by
standing the strain. The point that is of most importance is that the
design itself proved a success and fully vindicated Langley's work.
At the same time, it would be unjust to pass by the fact of the flight
without according to Curtiss due recognition of the way in which he paid
tribute to the genius of the pioneer by these experiments.

[*] Smithsonian Publications No. 2329.

XIX. THE WAR PERIOD--I

Full record of aeronautical progress and of the accomplishments of
pilots in the years of the War would d