before a successful flight could be obtained. In view of this it was planned to make a test of the machine as soon as the first engine was ready, with the expectation that, while the aerodrome would not have sufficient power to fly, yet the test would furnish definite data on the all-important question of balancing, and also determine whether or not the launching apparatus would require modification. In fact, Mr. Langley felt so apprehensive that the first, and possibly the second test, would be unsuccessful that, in order to avoid the possibility of a fatal accident, it was planned that a dummy should be used to represent the weight of the man in these preliminary tests. This plan, however, was not carried out. In 1903, when the large aerodrome was finally completed, so much time had been lost that the writer proposed to assume the risks of such an accident and to guide the machine in its first test, in the hope of avoiding a disaster, with the consequent delay of months for repairs, which the presence of a controlling hand capable of correcting any inaccuracies of balancing rendered far less likely to occur. To this proposal Mr. Langley assented with great reluctance, as he fully realized the danger involved. [p127] Particular attention is called to the above facts, which clearly show that while a certain degree of success in the initial tests was later hoped for, yet from the beginning it had been felt rather certain that several tests would have to be made before final success would be achieved. To those experienced in scientific experiments this realization of the probability of several tests being necessary before success could reasonably be expected does not seem strange, for the record of past experience contains very few examples of epoch-making inventions springing full fledged from the hand of their maker and proving a success on the first test. The two experiments made in the fall of 1903, in which the aerodrome was each time so damaged in the process of launching that its ability to fly was never really tested, should therefore be considered merely as the first of a series which it had been expected would need to be made before success would be achieved. Further tests were made impossible at the time on account of the lack of funds, the expense of such work being unusually heavy. While the lack of funds, therefore, was the real cause of the temporary suspension of the work, yet an influence which does not often enter into scientific work—the unjust criticism of a hostile press—was directly responsible for the lack of funds. It seems very certain that had it not been for this criticism of the press the funds would have been readily forthcoming for continuing the work to the point of success. [p128] CHAPTER II GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS