Langley’s Folly

They had the best man for the job… Dr. Samuel Langley.

Dr. Langley was a respected professor of mathematics and astronomy. Director of the Smithsonian Institution.
He had published many papers on aerodynamics and he had done extensive experiments with large unmanned plane models with his buddy Alexander Graham Bell looking on.

Dr. Samuel Langley had everything going for him AND more…

They picked him for the job and gave him extensive funding.

They = Federal Government.

They wanted Dr. Langley to create a flying machine capable of carrying a man.

Over 15 years of working on Manned-Flight and with the backing of the Government… on October 7, 1903, Dr. Langley attempted to take off and fly over the Potomac River (Just in case he crashed the water would be a more forgiving landing).

In the first attempt, Langley said the wing clipped part of the catapult, leading to a plunge into the river “like a handful of mortar,” according to one reporter.

Since the flying machine was fairly undamaged (luckily, so he didn’t have to go back to government for more funding) he attempted a second flight.

On December 8, 1903, the second attempt led to the air craft being damaged as it left the “catapult”.  It crashed into the river again.

Reporters called these incidents, “Langley’s Folly”.

Quietly, two brothers from Ohio who owned a bicycle shop had a growing passion for “flight”.

These brothers were not scientists, not educated, not funded. The invested $1,000 of their own money vs the $70,000 Dr. Langley was given by the government.

They spent nights and weekends on research, design and testing…

On December 17, 1903, (just a few days after Langley’s Folly, Orville and Wilbur Wright took flight over the sand dunes of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, USA.

… Despite what some people might say about your success and your business, I believe you did it.

… I believe you did build your business and your success.

… I believe the Wright brothers beat Langley to the punch even though they didn’t get dealt the best hand.

… I believe you earn and deserve your success.

… I believe you only fail when you quit.

… I believe some people (they might even be close to you and have big hearts) don’t want to see you succeed. Not because they dislike you, but because they are afraid to see you fail. They think people are weak, frail and fragile and if you don’t succeed it will devastate you.

… I give people more credit for being strong and for being more than that.

… I believe when you don’t succeed, you gain wisdom and strength.

… I agree when Gary Vaynerchuk says in CRUSH IT, “Don’t ever look at someone else who has more capital or cred than you and think you shouldn’t bother to compete. You may only have a million-dollar business, and your biggest competitor may have a fifty-million-dollar business, but if you can outwork him or her, you will win over time.”

Don’t let anyone belittle you, tell you “You can’t”, or tell you that your hard work, risk taking, sleepless nights, sacrifices don’t have value.

—
Darin “I believe I can fly” Persinger

P.S. I’m not going to give you anything, you gotta make the investment, make the time, make the commitment. If you are ready for that… CLICK HERE