The project was made possible through a public/private partnership between Stafford County, the Langley Flight Foundation, the Stafford County Historical Society, the Stafford Regional Airport, and private donors. The aircraft will be on permanent display at the airport, along with interactive kiosks with educational programming on the science and history of flight.
The Foundation is hosting a community open house on May 11th from 11:00 am – 4:00 pm at the Stafford Regional Airport with aviation activities for kids and aerodrome demonstrations every half hour. Aerodrome No. 5 was one of several experimental aircraft developed by Samuel Pierpont Langley, the Secretary of the Smithsonian, in the mid-1890s to demonstrate heavier-than-air mechanical flight. Powered by a 1.5 hp steam-powered engine, the unmanned aerodrome weighed just over 24 pounds and flew 3,330 feet over 1 minute and thirty seconds on May 6, 1896, in Stafford County. T
When word of the test flight got out, it shocked the scientific community and changed attitudes toward the possibility of manned flight around the world. Over the past 16 months, KipAero of Dallas, Texas, has constructed the aerodrome reproduction in its original May 1896 configuration following detailed measurements of the original Aerodrome No. 5 at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. The Langley Flight Foundation and KipAero hope to flight test a second reproduction in the future.
The Langley Flight Foundation is a 501c3 non-profit dedicated to commemorating this seminal achievement in aeronautics, inspiring the pursuit of aviation-related STEM education opportunities, and promoting the growth of the aviation and aerospace industry in the region. For more information, visit langfound.org/langleyinitiative.
