Talk:Samuel Pierpont Langley

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	The following comments have been left for this page: Needs inline citations. The structure could also be improved by adding more subsections. Hemmingsen 16:07, 19 October 2006 (UTC) (edit)

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[edit] Manly

Without Q, his (152hp?) engine would have made Flyer I more successful. He deserves to be far better known than he is. Trekphiler 12:11, 3 December 2005 (UTC)

Yes, if his engine was copied, he seems to have contributed more to aviation than Langley did, excluding Manly's work. David R. Ingham 03:27, 17 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Spelling and other details

Usually, Google gives more hits for the correct spelling, but I get about the same number for "Charles M. Manly" and "Charles M. Manley". The "Manly" hits seem to be the relevant ones. Milestones of Aviation, Hugh Lauter Levin Associates, Inc., 1989, says "Charles Manly", 53 horse power and 200 pounds. (152 would seem excessive for an ultra-light.) (It says that Curtiss made 93 separate technical modifications before Langley's "Airodrome" flew.)

Aviation, the Pioneer Years, Ben Mackworth-Praed, 1990, Chartwell Books Inc., says "Manly" and 52 horse power, five cylinder radial, 340 pounds. There is a picture of the engine and a picture showing structural failure of the aircraft. David R. Ingham 05:28, 17 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Tesla

The following passage makes very little sense to me: "Although in 1897 and 1898 radio controlled boats had been demonstrated to the military and to the public by Nikola Tesla, the state of radio was very primitive. Though he experimented with rotating structures...." The sentence beginning, "Though he...." is quite unclear as to who 'he' is: Tesla? Langley? What does 'rotating structures' refer to? The radial engine? I plan to rewrite the passage so it makes more sense and will probably eliminate the reference to Tesla, who I believe to be quite irrelevant to Langley's efforts. Please comment if you have a better understanding of the meaning here. DonFB 04:13, 1 September 2006 (UTC)