Professor Samuel P Langley's aeroplane, 1903. Samuel Pierpoint Langley (1834-1906) was an American astronomer and aeronautical pioneer. He designed and built model aircraft, one of which succeeded in flying 3/4 of a mile in 1896, 10 times further than any previous flight by a heavier-than-air flying machine. After another successful trial, he was given a grant of $50,000 from the War Department, together with a further $20,000 from the Smithsonian to develop a full-sized manned aeroplane, which he called the 'Aerodrome'. Launched from a catapult on the banks of the Potomac River, the aircraft made its maiden flight on 7 October 1903 with Charles Manly at the controls. It crashed and after a further failure in December, Langley gave up on the project.