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Samuel Pierpont Langley (August 22, 1834 – February 27, 1906) was an American aviation pioneer, astronomer and physicist who invented the bolometer. He was the third secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and a professor of astronomy at the University of Pittsburgh , where he was the director of the Allegheny Observatory .
The Langley Aerodrome is a pioneering but unsuccessful manned, tandem wing-configuration powered flying machine, designed at the close of the 19th century by Smithsonian Institution Secretary Samuel Langley. The U.S. Army paid $50,000 for the project in 1898 after Langley's successful flights with small-scale unmanned models two years earlier.
Samuel Pierpont Langley's Aerodrome A (1903) The Wright brothers in the Wright Flyer (1903) Alberto Santos-Dumont in the 14-bis (1906) Other notable claims include: Karl Jatho, in Germany in his biplane (1903) Richard Pearse, in New Zealand in his monoplane (1903–1904) Trajan Vuia, in France (1906) Jacob Ellehammer, in Denmark (1906)
First failure of Langley's manned Aerodrome on the Potomac River, 7 October 1903. After a distinguished career in astronomy and shortly before becoming Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Samuel Pierpont Langley started a serious investigation into aerodynamics at what is today the University of Pittsburgh.
He had many duties within the Smithsonian, which include: working as a general laborer who built exhibit cases, moved and cleaned furniture, assisted in preparing maps, and drew for Smithsonian lectures. He worked under the first three Smithsonian secretaries, Joseph Henry, Spencer Fullerton Baird, and Samuel Pierpont Langley. [2]
Manly helped Smithsonian Institution Secretary Samuel Pierpont Langley build The Great Aerodrome, which was intended to be a manned, powered, winged flying machine. Manly made major contributions to the development of the aircraft's revolutionary 52 hp gasoline-fueled radial engine, called the Manly–Balzer engine. Manly attempted to pilot the ...
1896: Samuel Pierpont Langley successfully flew unpiloted steam-powered models. [2] 1897: Carl Richard Nyberg's Flugan developed steam-powered aircraft over a period from 1897 to 1922, but they never achieved more than a few short hops. 1899: Gustave Whitehead built, and was purported to have flown, a steam-powered airplane in Pittsburgh ...
Abbot would become acting director of SAO in 1906 [9] and in 1907, Abbot became the Director of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, following the death of Samuel P. Langley. [1] While Langley was still Director, he had visited Mount Whitney , and decided it would be a great place for an observatory.