samuellangley

text is legible on the monument and it refers to Samuel Pierpont Langley, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Langley was a pioneer in aviation. Here is article about him from Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Langley May 7, 1913] Langley Memorial Unveiled at Smithsonian Institution. SCIENTISTS EULOGIZE HIM AG Bell Presents Medals to Glenn Curtiss and Gustave Eiffel." French Ambassador Receives Gift in Be- half of Absent Countryman -- Struggles of "Father of Modern Aviation," Said to Have Died of Broken Heart. ... From HONOR AIR PIONEER - Washington Post ($$)

Langley's airplanes didn't work, and after repeated failures he was upstaged in December, 1903, by the Wright Brothers. But because of its allegiance to Secretary Langley, the Smithsonian Institution refused for years to recognize the Wright Brothers' primacy over Langley, who had desperately wanted to go down in history as the first to make a powered flight. Orville Wright donated his original biplane to a British museum, and the Smithsonian didn't get it until after WWII, when they apologized to Wright for the snub. John Flanagan (1865-1952), the designer of this plaque and numerous others, also came up with the design of the 1932 George Washington memorial (bicentennial) quarter.

The Langley Aerodrome modified by Glenn Curtiss as part of the gruelling Wright Brothers / Glenn Curtiss patent battles. See:

This is a photo of the unsuccessful attempted flight of the Langley Aerodrome from a houseboat on the Potomac River on October 7, 1903. It is likely this photo is in with the 1914 group of Bain photos because the Langley Aerodrome would actually play a role in the patent fights between the Wright Brothers and Glenn Curtiss. This is not one of the 1914 flights, as is apparent by comparing October 7,1903 photos of the attempted flight with this one. As per Wikipedia: With Smithsonian approval, Glenn Curtiss extensively modified the Aerodrome and made a few short flights in it in 1914, as part of an unsuccessful attempt to bypass the Wright Brothers' patent on aircraft and to vindicate [Samuel] Langley. Based on these flights, the Smithsonian displayed the Aerodrome in its museum as the first heavier-than-air manned, powered aircraft "capable of flight." This action triggered a feud with Orville Wright (Wilbur Wright died in 1912), who accused the Smithsonian of misrepresenting flying machine history. Orville backed up his protest by refusing to donate the original 1903 Kitty Hawk Flyer to the Smithsonian, instead exiling it to Science Museum of London in 1928. The dispute finally ended in 1942 when the Smithsonian published details of the Curtiss modifications to the Aerodrome and recanted its claims for the aircraft. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langley_Aerodrome

TVL 1970: Thank you for identifying this aircraft as the Langley Aerodrome, developed by Smithsonian Institution secretary Samuel P. Langley. This photo shows the aerodrome's attempted flight on October 7, 1903, which ended when it fell into the water upon launch. This same photograph, credited to the Smithsonian Institution, is shown in an article "Langley's Flying Machine" in Aviation and Aeronautical Engineering magazine (Vol. III, Nov. 15, 1917, p. 528) which is available at Google Books. The article also contains information and photos of Glen Curtiss's later modification of the Aerodrome. We will add more details when we update this image description.

And here's that plane in 2011, in the Smithsonian: It seems to be staying up now :-)