Visit the Langley Aerodrome Experience!
Stafford Regional Airport
Open to the Public Daily
8:00 am - 6:00 pm
Celebrating…
“…the world’s first successful flight of an unpiloted, engine-driven, heavier-than-air craft of substantial size.”
- Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
Flights of the Aerodromes
On May 6, 1896, Samuel Pierpont Langley achieved the “world’s first successful flight of an unpiloted, engine-driven, heavier-than-air craft of substantial size” above the waters of the Potomac River in Stafford County, Virginia. After being catapulted off a specially designed houseboat, Langley’s Aerodrome No. 5 flew 3,300 feet in 90 seconds before gently coming to rest in the water. On November 28, 1896, Langley launched Aerodrome No. 6 from the same location for a flight totaling 4,200 feet at an average speed of 30 miles per hour.
“…No one could have witnessed these experiments without being convinced that the practicability of mechanical flight had been demonstrated.”
— Eyewitness, Alexander Graham Bell, May 6, 1896
The Langley Story
Astronomer, engineer, architect, physicist, inventor, and aviation pioneer, Samuel Pierpont Langley served as the secretary of the Smithsonian Institute from 1887 until his death in 1906. Amongst his greatest achievements was his advancement of the science of aerodynamics and aeronautics, which helped pave the way for future generations of flying machines. Langley’s legacy lives on through numerous sites, facilities, and awards named in his honor, including the Smithsonian Institute’s Samuel P. Langley Medal for Aerodromics, the U.S.S. Langley, the world’s first aircraft carrier, Langley Air Force Base, and the Langley Research Center of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
“I have brought to a close the portion of the work which seemed to be specially mine - the demonstration of the practicability of mechanical flight - and for the next stage, which is the commercial and practical development of the idea, it is probable that the world may look to others. The world, indeed, will be supine if it does not realize that a new possibility has come to it, and that the great universal highway overhead is now soon to be opened.”
— Samuel Pierpont Langley, June 1897
The Langley Aerodrome Experience
The Langley Flight Foundation’s mission is to commemorate Samuel Pierpont Langley’s achievement of sustained, heavier-than-air mechanical flight through the construction and display of an exact reproduction of Aerodrome No. 5 in Stafford County, Virginia. The replica will be curated at the Stafford Regional Airport terminal along with interactive kiosks highlighting Langley’s research and achievements toward mankind’s knowledge of mechanical flight.
“He rescued the problem from contempt, he laid the lines which must be followed, and, having published the results of his experiments and given other men data upon which to conquer the air, he will ever be remembered as the precursor and the pathfinder of successful flying-machines.”
— Octave Chanute, December, 1906
The Langley Flight Foundation is supported by:
The Langley Flight Foundation is a proud business partner of Stafford County Public Schools to enhance the education of students and inspire the pursuit of aviation and STEM careers.