Langley Propeller, fixed-pitch, two-blade, wood and fabric

Object Details

Physical Description: Type: Two-Blade, Fixed-Pitch, Wood and Fabric; Diameter: 251.5 cm (99 in.); Chord: 83.8 cm (33 in.); Engine Application: Gasoline, 4.5 kw (6 hp)
Summary: This pusher propeller was built by Professor Samuel P. Langley in 1897, and used in unsuccessful experiments mounted on a special rail hand car to determine the effectiveness of the device. Charles Manley, Langley's colleague, described this experiment in 1911 memoirs. A gasoline engine "said to have furnished over six horse-power on Prony-brake tests, evidently did not furnish anything like this amount of power at this time." Furthermore, the railroad car was very heavy, offering too "strong a tractive resistance," and "the propeller was evidently far too large to permit the engine to run at the speed at which it would develop a reasonable amount of power."; Langley's famous Aerodrome experiments were not successful in developing a piloted aircraft before his death in 1906; however, a later experiment conducted by Glenn Curtiss and sponsored by the Smithsonian, extensively modified the Aerodrome and made a few short flights in it in 1914.

1897

Materials: Wood and Fabric
Dimensions: Rotor/Propeller: 251.5 x 83.8 x 6 x 14cm (99 x 33 x 2 3/8 x 5 1/2 in.)

National Air and Space Museum

GUID (Link to Original Record): http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nv9ffe9bcd5-a63e-4e65-b7c9-a9098dda9a7a