Various ways of launching were considered. In 1903 the Langley aeroplane was launched from the top of a houseboat. A car supporting it and drawn by lengthy spiral springs ran swiftly along a track, then suddenly dropped away, leaving the craft afloat in midair with its propellers whirring and its pilot supplementing, with manual control, if need be, the automatic stability of the machine. This method of launching, as shown by subsequent experimentalists, is a practical one and was favorably entertained by Mr. Curtiss. He also thought of starting from the ground with wheels, from the ice with skates, from the water with floats. Having at hand neither a first rate smooth field nor a sheet of ice, he chose to start from the water. [Illustration: Smithsonian Report, 1914.--Zahm. PLATE 1. LANGLEY AEROPLANE (BUILT 1898-1903) READY FOR LAUNCHING AT HAMMONDSPORT, N. Y., MAY 28, 1914.] [Illustration: Smithsonian Report, 1914.--Zahm. PLATE 2. LANGLEY AEROPLANE JUST RISING FROM WATER, JUNE 2, 1914, PILOTED BY CURTISS.] [Illustration: FLIGHT OF LANGLEY AEROPLANE WITH ITS OWN POWER PLANT OVER LAKE KEUKA, JUNE 2, 1914, PILOTED BY CURTISS.] [Illustration: Smithsonian Report, 1914.--Zahm. PLATE 3. CURTISS 80-HORSEPOWER MOTOR AND TRACTOR SCREW MOUNTED ON LANGLEY AEROPLANE.] [Illustration: Smithsonian Report, 1914.--Zahm. PLATE 4. ELWOOD DOHERTY CLEARING THE WATER SEPTEMBER 17, 1914, IN THE LANGLEY AEROPLANE DRIVEN BY A CURTISS 80-HORSEPOWER MOTOR AND TRACTOR SCREW.] In the accompanying illustrations, plates 1 and 2 show the appearance of the Langley flying machine after Mr. Curtiss had provided it with hydroaeroplane floats and their connecting truss work. The steel main frame, the wings, the rudders, the engine and propellers all were substantially as they had been in 1903. The pilot had the same seat under the main frame, and the same general system of control as in 1903. He could raise or lower the craft by moving the big rear rudder up and down; he could steer right and left by turning the vertical rudder. He had no ailerons nor wing-warping mechanism, but for lateral balance depended upon the dihedral angle of the wings and upon suitable movements of his weight or of the vertical rudder. And here it may be noted that Langley had placed the vertical steering rudder under and to the rear of the center of gravity. So placed, it served as a fairly good aileron by exerting a turning movement about the longitudinal axis of the machine.