It is to be regretted that the Institution published statements repeatedly[19] to the effect that these experiments of 1914 demonstrated that Langley’s plane of 1903 without essential modification was the first heavier-than-air machine capable of maintaining sustained human flight. As first exhibited in the United States National Museum, January 15, 1918, the restored Langley plane of 1903 bore the following label: THE ORIGINAL, FULL-SIZE LANGLEY FLYING MACHINE, 1903 For this simple label others were later substituted containing the claim that Langley’s machine “was the first man-carrying aeroplane in the history of the world capable of sustained free flight.” Though the matter of the label is not now an issue, it seems only fair to the Institution to say that in September 1928, Secretary Abbot finally caused the label of the Langley machine to be changed to read simply as follows: LANGLEY AERODROME THE ORIGINAL SAMUEL PIERPONT LANGLEY FLYING MACHINE OF 1903, RESTORED. Deposited by The Smithsonian Institution 301,613 This change has frequently been overlooked by writers on the controversy. In January 1942, Mr. Fred C. Kelly, of Peninsula, Ohio, communicated to me a list of differences between the Langley plane as tested in 1914 and as tested in 1903, which he had received from Dr. Wright. This list is given verbatim below. The Institution accepts Dr. Wright’s statement as correct in point of facts. Inferences from the comparisons are primarily the province of interested experts and are not discussed here. COMPARISON OF THE LANGLEY MACHINE OF 1903 WITH THE HAMMONDSPORT MACHINE OF MAY-JUNE, 1914. [Illustration: Fig. 3. _LANGLEY WING TRUSSING 1903._ Fig. 4. _HAMMONDSPORT WING TRUSSING 1914._] LANGLEY, 1903. HAMMONDSPORT, 1914. WINGS. 1 SIZE: 11′6″ × 22′6″ (L.M.[A] SIZE: 10′11¾″ × 22′6″ p. 206) [A] The letters L.M. in first column refer to Langley Memoir. 2 AREA: 1040 sq. ft. (L.M. p. AREA: 988 sq. ft. 206) 3 ASPECT RATIO: 1.96 ASPECT RATIO: 2.05 4 CAMBER: 1/12 (L.M. p. 205) CAMBER: 1/18 5 LEADING EDGE: Wire 1/16″ LEADING EDGE: Cylindrical spar diameter (L.M. Pl.66) 1½″ dia. at inner end, tapering to 1″ dia. at outer end. 6 COVERING: Cotton fabric, not COVERING: Cotton fabric, varnished. varnished.