Sustained, manned flight required some form of mechanical power. Flapping wings and launching into heavy winds did nothing to improve the practical applications for airplanes. The problem with adding power to airplanes was the enormous size and weight of internal combustion engines of the turn of the century.

Many English, French, and American inventors took up the task of designing a powered airplane. The most prestigious of these was Samuel Pierpont Langley, who was the director of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D. C. Langley received $50,000 from the U.S. Congress to pursue his ideas of powered flight. In 1896, the same year that Lilienthal died, Langley built a steam-powered glider that flew more than three quarters of a mile.

Langley realized the weight of the steam engine was too great for practical flight, and he turned to his assistant, Charles Manley, to design a lightweight engine. Manley designed a radial engine that weighed only 125 pounds but produced 53 horsepower.

After Langley designed his aircraft and prepared it for flight, it was placed on top of a barge on the Potomac River. The aircraft was launched into the air with a catapult, but despite numerous attempts, the aircraft flew right into the river every time. The attempts were filmed and received heavy press coverage. The U. S. Government lost patience, and Langley discontinued his work.

This very public failure overshadowed the important work being done by two Dayton, Ohio, bicycle makers, Orville and Wilbur Wright.