The Aeronaut Vol. 1 (Q1 2023)

AERONAUT

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American history is filled with impossible innovations and fantastically visionary problem solvers who have profoundly changed and, for the most part, improved our lives. However, the story of one intrepid inventor, one that took place in Stafford County, Virginia, still needs to be told.

Self-taught, curious, and determined, Samuel Pierpont Langley was considered one of the nation’s foremost scientific minds of the late nineteenth century. He received worldwide acclaim for his research on solar radiation and created the pre-cursor to the Standard Time System which provided precise, instantaneous time measurements to railroads, banks, and municipalities.

Nature has solved it, and why not man?”

In 1886, Langley attended a lecture by Professor Israel Lancaster on his experiments with flying models, a “science” that at the time was primarily the domain of quacks and charlatans. While the lecture was almost universally panned by its attendees, Langley was inspired. He would spend the remaining twenty years of his life risking his professional reputation and career by asking of flight, “Nature has solved it, and why not man?”

In 1887, Langley was named the third Secretary of the Smithsonian Institute, a position he accepted only after being assured that he would be permitted to continue his

secret research on aerodynamics. That research culminated in the publication of “Experiments in Aerodynamics” in 1891, the first significant American contribution to the science of aviation, in which he declared his controversial conclusion that mechanical flight “cannot longer be considered beyond our capacity to reach.”

Despite Langley’s proclamation and the weight of the Smithsonian’s reputation behind it, the preponderance of the scientific community remained skeptical, exemplified by the Director of the Nautical Almanac Office of the United States Naval Observatory, Professor Simon Newcomb’s remark, “Flight by machines heavier than air is unpractical and insignificant, if not utterly impossible.” Undeterred, Langley embarked on a methodical series of experiments to prove his theory. Backed by a private endowment and his allocation of Smithsonian resources, Langley and his team built a series of increasingly advanced unmanned models fitted with revolutionary lightweight steam engines that Langley dubbed "aerodromes," Greek for "airrunners."

To test his aerodromes Langley needed a secluded location with railroad access to Washington, D.C., shallow water, and overnight accommodations. He found the perfect spot in Chopawamsic Island, a 13acre island at the confluence of the Potomac River and Chopawamsic Creek in Stafford County, Virginia. The island was home to the Mount Vernon Ducking Society, a hunt club which offered guided hunting trips to Washington elites and accommodations at its “handsome” clubhouse.

Langley understood that his aerodromes needed to be launched into the wind to obtain enough lift to achieve sustained flight, but that wind direction was variable throughout the day and year. Langley solved this challenge with a specially designed houseboat with a roof-mounted catapult launch system that could be oriented in any direction into the wind, in essence, the world’s first aircraft carrier. After several years of failed tests, data collection and incremental design refinements, Langley invited his friend and telephone inventor, Alexander Graham Bell,

Figure 1. Portrait of Samuel Pierpont Langley c 1887

Samuel Pierpont Langley

to observe the testing of Aerodrome’s No. 5 and No. 6 on the morning of May 6, 1896.

The fully assembled aerodromes had wingspans of approximately 14 feet, measured 13 feet long, and weighed approximately 24 pounds, which included enough fuel and water to power the engine for 2 minutes. Aerodrome No. 6 was launched from the houseboat at approximately 1:00 pm and instantly crashed into the Potomac River, one of the aircraft’s guy wires catching on the launching catapult resulted in catastrophic damage to the wing.

Expectations were thus low at 3:05 pm when Langley, positioned on Chopawamsic Island, gave the signal to launch Aerodrome No. 5. Like the previous tests, No. 5 once again veered towards the waters of the Potomac River below, but then, to the astonishment of the team, began to climb, and climb, and climb. The first heavier-than-air mechanical flight in human history wasn’t a short hop, Aerodrome No. 5 flew 3,300 feet in one minute thirty seconds reaching a height of nearly 100 feet. The aircraft’s ascent was only arrested by the exhaustion of the water within its steam engine, after which it slowly

descended, coming to rest in the water. After recovering Aerodrome No. 5 from the water, it was launched again at 5:10 pm, this time achieving a flight of 2,300 feet.

Six days later, Alexander Graham Bell’s report that heavier-than-air mechanical flight had finally been demonstrated reverberated around the world. According to one newspaper, Langley's achievement was “ of far greater significance to the future of humanity than the dove which winged its way from the Ark of Noah."

Langley’s team improved upon their success on November 28, 1896, when Aerodrome No. 6 flew for 4,500 feet in one minute forty-five seconds from the same location. Afterwards, Langley remarked, “And now, it may be asked, what has been done? This has been done: a “flying machine,” so long a type for ridicule, has really flown; it has demonstrated its practicability in the only satisfactory way-by actually flying, and by doing this again and again, under conditions that leave no doubt.”

Langley’s success brought credibility to the science of aeronautics and inspired countless inventors and engineers to solve the challenge of human flight. Seven years later in 1903, two other Americans, Orville and Wilbur Wright were the first to achieve manned, controlled, flight in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. In 1910, Wilbur Wright wrote of Langley’s achievement, “It had great influence in determining my brother and myself to take up work in this science, and without doubt it similarly influenced others.”

Dr. Andrew D. White said of Langley, "Self seeker he never was. His labor, his thought, his efforts in every field, had as their one object the establishment of truth as truth.

Figure 3. Aerodrome No 5 in Smithsonian Workshop, photo courtesy of NASM Archives

Figure 2 Indianapolis News, May 29, 1896

For he had high aspirations and a deep faith - aspirations toward the best that humanity can receive, and faith in the truth that makes mankind free."

Haven’t heard of Samuel Pierpont Langley or his Aerodrome? You aren’t alone. Chances are you haven’t missed a sign, textbook, or documentary where this feat was mentioned, because they don’t exist. Perhaps the biggest shame of this historical omission is that what was called the “most remarkable mechanical mystery of the age” was solved RIGHT HERE, in Stafford County, Virginia.

The Langley Flight Foundation, a 501c3 nonprofit, is determined to rightfully celebrate

Langley’s achievement and determined perseverance against seemingly insurmountable obstacles. The Foundation’s Aerodrome Initiative seeks to construct and display an exact reproduction of Langley’s Aerodrome No. 5 for display at the Stafford Regional Airport terminal.

Far more than just a static display, the reproduction will provide a tactile connection between our rediscovered past and the inventive American spirit future generations will call upon to solve complex problems to preserve and improve our way of life. The replica will also serve as a launch point for showcasing Stafford County’s place in aviation history, to promote tourism, inspire STEAM education, and help attract aviation

related businesses to the region.

For more on the Langley Flight Foundation and the Langley Aerodrome Initiative, check out our website at www.langfound.org.

Figure 4. Alexander Graham Bell Photograph of Aerodrome No 5 Launch, from Langley Memoir on Mechanical Flight

"THE NATION OR THE PEOPLE WHO CARE NAUGHT FOR THEIR PAST, WILL THEMSELVES LEAVE NOTHING FOR THEIR POSTERITY TO EMULATE OR TO REMEMBER "

HENRY CABOT LODGE

FUNDING UPDATE: GOAL REACHED!

On October 4, 2022, the Stafford County Board of Supervisors deferred a vote on allocating $150,000 to the Langley Flight Foundation's Aerodrome Initiative Specifically, several members had concerns about the Flight Foundation's ability to raise the $150,000 match required to complete the $300,000 project

Incredibly, less than 30 days later, the Foundation delivered to the Board letters of financial commitment for the initiative totaling over $156,000 from the amazing sponsors listed in the pages below!

On November 1st, the Board approved the $150,000 matching grant, providing the balance of the funds needed for the construction and interpretation of the reproduction.

The Board's decision was influenced by the Foundation's commitment to work with Stafford County Public Schools and the Stafford Regional Airport on new aviationbased STEAM education programs and curricula for County students.

We are incredibly thankful for the Board of Supervisors support and look forward to working together to bring this exciting project to the County.

LANGLEY AERODROME INITIATIVE

The Stafford County Historical Society is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated since 1965 to the historical education, preservation and enrichment of Stafford County’s citizens and visitors.

The Silver Companies is a national, diversified real estate investment and development firm headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida. Silver Companies is a remarkable success story, expanding from an industry leader in Virginia to a prestigious national brand known for quality and integrity.

Zenith Aviation is an industry leading aviation parts supplier to domestic and international regional airlines and corporate flight departments. Based in Fredericksburg, Virginia, Zenith Aviation's goal is to provide superior service and economical solutions for customers and partners within the industry.

"THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR HARD WORK ON THIS AND THINKING OF OUR STUDENTS ANY TIME WE CAN MAKE THINGS BETTER FOR THEM, MANY OF US ARE VERY PASSIONATE ABOUT IT ”

SUPERVISOR MONICA GARY

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

On May 6, 1896, Samuel Pierpont Langley achieved the world’s first engine-driven heavierthan-air flight of a craft of substantial size with the launch of Aerodrome No. 5 from atop a houseboat moored at Chopawamic Island in Stafford County, Virginia. The flight was observed and photographed by Alexander Graham Bell, the Scottish-born scientist, engineer, and inventor of the telephone and by Frederick E. Fowle, Jr., a junior assistant at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. The Langley Flight Foundation set out to study these photographs to uncover a more complete understanding of this famous flight.

While Bell's photo of Aerodrome No. 5 launch is more famous, Fowle's lower quality photographs of the first flight are far more historically significant. Three of Fowle's photographs were labeled as "1'st Flight" which suggests they were taken within a one minute thirty second span around 3:05 pm on May 6, 1896.

Fowle’s Photograph #4 was taken immediately after the launch. The front edge of the houseboat and the end of the launching track are visible on the left side of the image. While the photograph is blurry it does confirm Langley’s account that Aerodrome No. 5 “descended three or four feet” “immediately after leaving the launching track.”

Fowle's Photograph #6, shows the aerodrome in flight heading south between its first and second clockwise revolution. The third, Fowle Photograph #7, while underexposed and blurry, captured mankind’s most significant aeronautical achievement of the nineteenth century, a heavier-than-air craft soaring nearly 100’ in the air under its own power. Langley's flight map below has been annotated to show the estimated vantage point of Frederick Fowle and the Aerodrome's location in each of these photos. For more information on the Foundation's work to interpret these photos, click or scan the QR code below.

Figure 5 Path of 1896 Aerodrome Flights (annotated), Langley Memoir on Mechanical Flight

This composite image merges Fowle Photographs #4, #6, and #7 using Stafford County's mainland tree line in each photograph This composite image merges Fowle Photographs #4, #6, and #7 using Stafford County's mainland tree line in each photograph for scale and location The composite image conclusively shows that Fowle Photographs #4, #6, and #7 were all taken from the for scale and location. The composite image conclusively shows that Fowle Photographs #4, #6, and #7 were all taken from the same general location on Chopawamsic Island and validates the May 6, 1896 flight path sketched in Langley Memoir on same general location on Chopawamsic Island and validates the May 6, 1896 flight path sketched in Langley Memoir on Mechanical Flight, Plate 19 The flight path corresponding to the path shown on Plate 19 has been approximated on the Mechanical Flight, Plate 19. The flight path corresponding to the path shown on Plate 19 has been approximated on the composite image composite image.

Using geometric principles, the known dimensions of Aerodrome No 5, and distance and height to the aerodrome in Fowle Using geometric principles, the known dimensions of Aerodrome No. 5, and distance and height to the aerodrome in Fowle Photograph #4, the estimated distance and approximate height of the Aerodrome in each photograph has been interpolated Photograph #4, the estimated distance and approximate height of the Aerodrome in each photograph has been interpolated above above. For an animated visualization of how this composite was created, click on or scan the QR code to the right For an animated visualization of how this composite was created, click on or scan the QR code to the right.

Figure 6. Figure 6. Composite Rendering of Aerodrome No. 5's May 6, 1896 flight, copyright Langley Flight Foundation Composite Rendering of Aerodrome No 5's May 6, 1896 flight, copyright Langley Flight Foundation

STAFFORD COUNTY, VIRGINIA MAY 6, 1896

Photo No. 8 by F.E. Fowle, May 6, 1896, end of first flight taken from northwestern tip of Chopawamsic Island. Photo No 8 by F E Fowle, May 1896, end of first flight taken from northwestern tip of Chopawamsic Island (NASM Archives) (NASM Archives) Figure

THE ACHIEVEMENT OF HUMAN FLIGHT

The following summary of significant historical steps made towards the achievement of powered human flight is presented with the acknowledgement that it is impossible in this space to provide a comprehensive list of each and every contributor to this effort.

1783

October 15, 1783 - Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier makes a tethered, ascent in a hot-air balloon which he designed with his brother, Joseph-Michel Montgolfier, becoming the first human to experience lighter-than-air flight.

1792-1810

After sketching flying machine concepts as early as 1792, English engineer Sir George Cayley develops and handlaunches a glider model with kite-shaped wings and a cruciform tail combining elevator and rudder in 1804. From 1809-1810, Cayley publishes his three-part treatise, "On Aerial Navigation,” in which he identified the forces acting on an aeroplane in flight: lift, thrust and drag, and conceived the idea of a lifting airfoil.

1871-1876 1883-1894

Frenchman Alphonse Pénaud’s “planophore,” the first truly stable airplane model in history, flies 131 feet in the Tuileries Gardens in Paris on August 18, 1871. The 20-inch-long monoplane with tapered dihedral wings is propelled by a pusher propeller located behind an adjustable tail powered by twisted rubber strips. In 1876, Pénaud patents a full-size amphibian monoplane design that had many features of modern aircraft, including counter-rotating propellers, a glass cockpit, landing gear, elevators and a rudder connected to vertical fin. The design was never built.

Octave Chanute promotes organized engineering dialogue on flight research in the United States. Between 1891 and 1894 he compiles the leading research on heavier-than-air aviation, culminating in his influential work, Progress in Flying Machines, in 1894. Chanute personally funds aviation research by others and facilitates collaborative research that will play a key role in American leadership in flying-machine development.

Sir George Cayley publishes his description of his “Governable Parachute” a manned glider designed to be released from a balloon at a height from which it could navigate “five to six times the distance horizontally that the balloon is then above the earth.” Cayley theorized that with the means of lightweight propulsion, “mechanical aérial navigation would be at our command without further delay.” Cayley’s full-sized Governable Parachute glider achieves the first manned glider flights in recorded history in 1849 and 1853 shortly before his death in 1857.

British marine engineer Francis Herbert Wenham publishes “On Aerial Locomotion on the Laws in which Heavy Bodies impelled through Air are Sustained,” and patents the design of parallel superimposed planes that will become the basis for bi-plane and tri-plane designs of the future. In 1871 he builds the first wind tunnel with John Browning and utilized it to test lift characteristics of different wing forms.

Frenchman Clement Ader develops several steam powered aircraft prototypes. In 1890, his Éole is credited with achieving a powered takeoff and uncontrolled flight in ground effect when it flies a few inches off the ground for 165 feet. Several of his subsequent designs, developed in concert with the French Army, fail to fly.

THE ACHIEVEMENT OF HUMAN FLIGHT

The following summary of significant historical steps made towards the achievement of powered human flight is presented with the acknowledgement that it is impossible in this space to provide a comprehensive list of each and every contributor to this effort.

American Samuel Pierpont Langley is appointed Secretary of the Smithsonian Institute in 1887. Inspired by a lecture hosted by Chanute in 1886, American Samuel Pierpont Langley begins substantial research culminating in “Experiments in Aerodynamics,” published in 1891, the first substantial American scientific contribution to aerodynamics. Langley analyzed the properties of rigid plane surfaces in flight using data captured by his recording instruments he designed mounted to a “whirling table,” a belt-driven contraption with two 30’ long spinning arms which moved up to 70 miles per hour. Langley’s work was credited with inspiring aviation enthusiasts and bringing respectability to the science of aeronautics.

German inventor Otto Lilienthal, the “flying man,” develops and successfully flies multiple stable monoplane and biplane gliders which he controlled by shifting his body position during flight. On August 9, 1896, after earlier achieving a sustained flight of over 800 feet, Lilienthal’s glider stalls in mid-flight and crashes headlong into the ground. Lilienthal succumbs to injuries and dies two days later. Lilienthal is credited with the first successfully controlled heavier-than-air glider flights and was a major inspiration to contemporary and future aviation inventors.

1889-1894

In 1889, Hiram Maxim, an American-British inventor, begins construction of a massive flying machine with a 110foot wingspan and two 17-foot diameter steam driven propellers. In 1894, the 3.5-ton machine briefly lifts off of the bottom rail of the 1,800-foot test track Maxim has constructed at Baldwyns Park, in Bexley, England, an achievement celebrated by Scientific American as the “first time in the history of the world, a flying machine actually left the ground, fully equipped with engines, boiler, fuel, water, and a crew of three persons.” During a later test, the machine jumps the test track and is irreparably damaged, ending Maxim’s manned flight experiments.

1893

Australian Lawrence Hargrave invents the “Cellular Kite,” a biplane box-kite structure with two parallel wing surfaces, the precursor to future biplane winged aircraft.

1896

Augustus Herring and Octave Chanute develop a twosurface “strut-wire” braced glider which improved upon the superimposed plane designs of Wenham, Hargrave and Lilienthal. The “Chanute-Herring Machine” would greatly influence the Wright Brothers early glider wing design.

THE ACHIEVEMENT OF HUMAN FLIGHT

The following summary of significant historical steps made towards the achievement of powered human flight is presented with the acknowledgement that it is impossible in this space to provide a comprehensive list of each and every contributor to this effort.

1891-1896 1901-1902

By 1901, the Wright Brothers had advanced their research to a 98-pound, man-carrying glider with a 22-foot wingspan. The glider included an innovative roll-control system in which the pilot could warp the shape of the wings by shifting his body The 1901 glider accomplished a flight of 300 feet but was stubbornly difficult to control. By 1902, the Wright's solved this control problem by integrating a moveable rudder into the wing-warping system, giving the pilot the first three-dimensional system of aircraft control. By the end of the year, the Wrights had made over 1,000 flights in the 1902 glider, some of which exceeding 600 feet.

1899-1900

Orville and Wilbur Wright, bicycle manufacturers from Dayton, Ohio, construct and fly their 1900 glider, a large-scale kite based on the Chanute-Herring machine with wires allowing the brothers to warp the wing shape to balance and steer the craft, at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

1901

On June 19, 1901, Samuel Pierpont Langley’s quarter scale Aerodrome A model becomes the first heavier-than-air craft to fly with an internal combustion engine in Stafford, Virginia. In 1903, Langley attempted two launches of his full-size Aerodrome A. Both ended with crashes caused by structural failures, ending Langley's pursuit of manned flight.

1903

By 1903 the Wright Brothers were ready to add a propulsion system to their glider, which they dubbed the "Flyer." The Canard biplane, with its pilot, weighed over 600 pounds and utilized a 12-hp four-cylinder engine driving two pusher propellers located behind the wing. On December 17, 1903 at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville Wright piloted the Flyer on a 12-second, 120-foot flight. It was the first manned, heavier-than-air mechanical aircraft flight in human history.

THE ENGINEERING GENIUS OF AERODROME

LONGITUDINAL STABILITY

Samuel Pierpont Langley understood that achieving and sustaining flight required a lightweight structure, rigid plane surfaces and a powerplant that could generate enough thrust to achieve lift by overcoming the forces of gravity and drag.

Langley utilized hollow steel tubing to create Aerodrome No. 5’s structural frame, which consisted of a double mid-rod running longitudinally from tip to tail, vertical guy post extensions, and a central cage frame that contained the aircraft’s mechanical systems. Air and water are both fluids and the forces acting on bodies moving through them are similar. Many components of the aerodrome were named after their nautical counterparts, such as the bowspirit, hull, outrigger, and tail rudder.

Mechanical flight requires a delicate balance between gravity and lift. As the size of sustaining surfaces, or wing area, increases, so does their weight. Few nineteenth century construction materials were sufficiently light, strong, and rigid for use in aircraft wing construction. Langley’s solution to this structural challenge was a tandem wing design, with two pairs of equal-sized wings.

The tandem wings allowed for a shorter wingspan, lighter overall wing weight, lower bending stresses, and a stiffer airfoil while also producing lower drag and a high lift coefficient at low speeds. Altogether, Aerodrome No. 5’s wings provided 68.8 square feet of sustaining surface at a weight of just 4.29 lbs. Even with Langley’s innovative wing design, the aerodrome’s wings underwent significant deformation in flight. Langley countered this with a system of piano wire guys strung between the bowspirit, guy posts, and wing ribs to maintain the airfoil’s shape.

Langley hypothesized that stable flight occurs when the center of pressure (C.P.) is aligned with the center of gravity (C.G.). Gravity acts downward on an aircraft proportional to its mass. The center of gravity is the point about which the craft would balance if it were possible to suspend it at that point. An airfoil (wing) in motion creates a pressure differential that generates lift. The center of pressure is the point on the aircraft at which all lift forces acting on the aircraft are considered concentrated.

Langley was able to adjust Aerodrome No. 5’s center of pressure without significantly altering the center of gravity using wing clamps. The clamps allowed the wings to be adjusted along the mid-rod to fine tune the longitudinal stability. To minimize the shifting of the center of gravity during flight, Langley located propulsion elements that changed in weight, such as the water and gasoline reservoirs, at the aircraft’s estimated center of gravity. To fine-tune longitudinal stability, Aerodrome No. 5’s tail could be adjusted vertically, and the forward float could be shifted along the bowspirit.

For additional illustrations of Aerodrome No. 5's structure, equilibrium, and powerplant design, click or scan the QR code below.

Figure 8. Aerodrome No. 5 Longitudinal Stability Diagram, Langley Flight Foundation

LATERAL STABILITY

Langley chose a dihedral configuration (upward angle) for his aerodrome wings after observing the wing position of soaring birds. After testing the response of different models on his whirling table, he chose a 9 degree dihedral angle for Aerodrome No. 5. Dihedral wings provide significant lateral

stability in turbulent air. When wind gusts cause longitudinal roll, the physics of dihedral wings help an airplane return to wings level flight. As the aircraft banks in response to turbulence, it slips as well, changing its orientation to the relative wind. As the aerodrome slips, the low wing meets the relative wind at a higher

angle of attack, generating more lift on the low wing and creating a rolling moment that returns the aircraft to wings level. Today, most, if not all, passenger airliners incorporate a dihedral wing configuration.

Figure 9. Aerodrome No 5 Lateral Stability Diagram, Langley Flight Foundation

Figure 10. Aerodrome No. 5 Rolling Moment Diagram, Langley Flight Foundation

POWER

Aerodrome No. 5’s propulsion system consisted of four major components: the aeolipile, the boiler, the engine, and the propellers.

The aeolipile was, in essence, a pressurized gasoline torch. It started with a copper air chamber that was charged with compressed air before each flight. The air was connected to a gas reservoir by a copper pipe, which pressurized the gasoline in the reservoir. The gas reservoir contained enough gasoline for a total running time of two minutes and thirty seconds. Flow of gasoline from the reservoir was controlled by a needle valve at the bottom of the copper vessel. Another copper pipe delivered gas to an evaporative coil, which converted liquid gasoline into gas vapor. The gas vapor was ignited at the burner, sending super-heated exhaust through the boiler and out the exhaust smokestack.

The aerodrome’s boiler system consisted of a separator, a pump, copper coils, a mica heat shield, and copper tubing. The separator was a copper vessel that served as both the water reservoir and steam drum.

Water within the bottom of the separator was fed into a mechanical pump located below the separator. The pump, which was powered by the engine shaft, pumped water into the copper coils of the boiler, where it was superheated into steam by the burner. Steam exiting the boiler reentered the separator. Copper pipes leading from the top of the separator fed the engine crank and a pressure gauge. The boiler was capable of producing 130 lbs of steam pressure after running the burner for 1 minute. Condensing steam traveled back into the bottom of the separator to be recirculated through the system.

Unlike modern internal combustion engines, Aerodrome No. 5’s combustion system (the aeolipile) occurred externally from the engine. The engine itself consisted of a crank, pistons, and a bevel gear. Steam pressure arrived at the engine through copper tubing where it turned the engine crank, which, in turn, drove the engine’s piston shafts. A bevel gear mounted on the propeller stem transferred the energy of the shaft into the radial motion of the propellers.

The propellers used on Aerodrome No. 5 were constructed of white pine strips laminated together and bent to form an axial twist. Each propeller was 1 meter in diameter and weighed 0.8 pounds. At full steam power, the propellers ran at nearly 800 revolutions per minute, propelling Aerodrome No. 5 up to 30 miles per hour. In later testing trials, Aerodrome No. 5’s wooden propellers were replaced with the fabric covered propellers shown above.

For additional illustrations of Aerodrome No. 5's powerplant design, click or scan the QR code below.

Figure 11. Aerodrome No 5's Powerpoint Diagram, Langley Flight Foundation

What's Next? Stafford.

If access is a priority, Stafford County checks every box. Access to key markets, affordable real estate, talented people, and an active entrepreneurial and business community create the Stafford Advantage. We’ve built a framework for long-term success, and our companies enjoy the benefits. From supply chain resources to infrastructure, smart city innovation to workforce training, we work hand in hand with our companies and communities to keep growth well-paced in the Stafford region. Explore, grow, and discover business resources for entrepreneurs, start-ups, and companies in Stafford, Virginia.

Contact our Economic Development department today!

Explore why Stafford, Virginia is right for your business.

How do you go about replicating an invention as unique as Samuel Pierpont Langley’s Aerodrome No. 5? Not only did Langley’s team manufacture each component by hand using nineteenth century construction techniques, they utilized an innovative, ultralight steam-driven powerplant that hasn’t been used in over 128 years of aircraft development. The long-lost skills required to build a reproduction aerodrome are outside those normally found in anyone with experience building early aeroplanes.

Enter KipAero and its founder Kip Lankenau, a lifelong historian, pilot, and Victorian-age engineer. Growing up in southeastern Michigan, Kip spent more of his youth in an airplane than an automobile, “My father owned an airplane before an automobile. We rarely took driving vacations, flying all over North America was the norm. My mother was also a pilot, an active member of the 99’s, and a frequent competitor in women’s air races.”

Kip obtained his private pilot’s license his sophomore year at Michigan State. “I took a V35A Bonanza to school as a junior and flew it to Florida for Spring Break. We had a grass strip at home, and I would fly home every Wednesday, weather permitting, and have lunch while my grandmother did my laundry.”

By his senior year, Kip had earned commercial, instrument and multi-engine ratings. Another major influence on his future career path was his grandfather, who’d been hired by Edsel Ford and was a senior Ford Motor Company executive.

“Growing up, we spent a lot of time at Greenfield Village and Henry Ford Museum, where with my natural mechanical ability and curiosity, I learned how to work on and operate many types of early machinery, from steam engines to automobiles, sawmills, printing presses, and glass blowing. At home, I would replicate many of Edison’s early experiments and consumed much time making cannons, firearms, a hang glider, flying model airplanes, and rockets.”

Much of his early background was in operation and repair of nineteenth and

early twentieth century steam engines and machinery.

In 1991, Kip founded Kip Motor Company, a British vehicle repair and restoration business, in Dallas, Texas. He found a niche in servicing "orphans,” or uncommon British, European and exotic domestic vehicles, such as Austin, Hillman, Humber, Singer, Sunbeam, Morris, Riley, Vanden Plas, and Vauxhal.

With parts for most of these vehicles discontinued, Kip and his team of passionate craftsmen and technicians began producing authentic reproduction parts and providing service and restoration work for customers worldwide.

In 2006, Kip’s love for aviation history led him to found KipAero, an offshoot of Kip Motor Company focused on providing vintage aviation enthusiasts with the parts and expertise needed to accurately build, restore, repair and maintain vintage aeroplanes. KipAero provides small batch manufacturing services to wholesale parts suppliers, airplane clubs, restoration shops and individuals.

Far more than just a parts manufacturer, KipAero now produces reproduction World

Figure 12. KipAero Sopwith 1½ Strutter

War I aeroplanes, mainly the Sopwith family of flying machines, using the original factory drawings and specifications, as well as period correct wood, metal fittings, cables and hardware. Customers can purchase a fully assembled, air-worthy aeroplane or a complete kit to construct themselves.

On December 28, 2022, the Langley Flight Foundation awarded KipAero the contract to construct our Aerodrome No. 5. KipAero’s reputation for delivering top quality, flightworthy vintage aircraft reproductions, their highly-qualified team of machinists and technicians, and experience with constructing and operating nineteenth century steam engines and machinery were key reasons for the Foundation’s selection.

Our Aerodrome No. 5 will be constructed as an exact reproduction of the form that completed the first heavier-than-air mechanical flight on May 6, 1896. Utilizing the photographs and documentation provided by Samuel Pierpont Langley’s team and photographs and measurements of the original Aerodrome obtained by the Wright Experience in 2019, KipAero plans to complete the project by May 6, 2024.

The first phase of the project will include a thorough review of all available documents to determine gaps in information which will require further research, completion of such research, compilation of a list of materials

and methods of construction originally used in the production of each component and identifying sources for the same, and development of the project plan.

Following this work, the team will procure materials, fabricate tooling and manufacture all mechanical, structural and aerodynamic components required for the project. The Aerodrome will then be assembled to ensure all elements function properly, and then be delivered to the

REPRODUCTION VS. REPLICA

KipAero’s Aerodrome No. 5 will be a reproduction, not a replica. A reproduction is exactly like the original. It is produced to factory specifications using period materials and original drawings. Essentially, production stopped, then production re-started, albeit a hundred years later.

A replica may not be produced to original specifications or use original materials or even an original type engine. To the uneducated, it may look somewhat like an original, but certainly does not fly like one.

Click or scan the QR code for 2018 CBS coverage of EAA AirVenture: World War I Plane from Kip Aero:

Stafford Regional Airport. KipAero plans to provide periodic construction progress updates, including photos and videos providing a behind the scenes look at their construction process.

"ALTHOUGH WE WORK ON STEAM ENGINES AND FLYING MACHINES, IT’S A RARE OPPORTUNITY WHERE THE TWO ARE COMBINED ON THE SAME PROJECT " KIP LANKENAU, KIPAERO

Figure 13 KipAero Aerodrome No 5 build team studying project documents

KipAero Sopwith in flight

The Langley Flight Foundation is partnering with Stafford County Schools and the Stafford Regional Airport to host an annual STEAM education event for middle school students at the Stafford Regional Airport beginning Fall 2023. The event is modeled after the Culpeper AirFest STEM Day in which over 700-5th grade students visit the airport and experience engineering and technology demonstrations designed to inspire them to pursue careers these fields. We are seeking local corporate partners that are willing to spend one day a year with us to help our students support this initiative by providing demonstrations in their particular field For more information, click or scan the QR code to the right!

With the reproduction funding secured, the Foundation has begun planning the educational elements of our mission, the Langley Learning Center Our vision is to create interactive multi-media displays that will enable visitors to learn the basics of flight, see firsthand how Langley solved the problem of heavier-than-air mechanical flight, and watch Aerodrome No 5's flight from the shore of Chopawamsic Island

We are seeking Langley Learning Center sponsors to help make this vision a reality If you are interested in being a major sponsor of this effort, contact us by clicking or scanning the QR code to the left!

A WORD FROM OUR BOARD

The past 3 years have been uncertain times for parents, students, businesses, and local governments. Sponsorships, donations, and public funding for non-profits have historically taken a disproportionally larger hit in times of financial turmoil as discretionary spending is reduced. While the pandemic led to delays in the launching of our Aerodrome Initiative, we are incredibly appreciative of the commitments made by Stafford County and our sponsors to enable this important project to proceed despite formidable headwinds.

The Langley Aerodrome Initiative would not have been possible without the tireless efforts of Philip E. Hornung, whose research and vision for honoring this forgotten historical achievement was the spark that launched the Langley Flight Foundation and this noble community effort.

The story we hope to tell is a fascinating tale of perseverance over adversity, questioning our own biases and assumptions, and becoming an inspiration for the common good. If you'd like to be part of telling it, please connect with us through one of our links on page 1.

LANGLEY FLIGHT FOUNDATION 95 AVIATION WAY

FREDERICKSBURG, VA 22406 WWW.LANGFOUND.ORG

Langley Flight Foundation Board of Directors, Chris Hornung, Philip Hornung, Scott Mayausky, Sue Henderson