Charles Matthews Manly (1876–1927) was an American

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

. Manly helped

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

Secretary

Samuel Pierpont Langley Samuel Pierpont Langley (August 22, 1834 – February 27, 1906) was an American aviation pioneer, astronomer and physicist who invented the bolometer. He was the third secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and a professor of astronomy a ...

build The Great Aerodrome, which was intended to be a manned, powered, winged flying machine. Manly made major contributions to the development of the aircraft's revolutionary 52 hp gasoline-fueled radial engine, called the Manly–Balzer engine. Manly attempted to pilot the Aerodrome in its only two tests, in October and December 1903. The machine failed to fly both times, plunging into the

Potomac River The Potomac River () is in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and flows from the Potomac Highlands in West Virginia to Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography D ...

after its launch from a houseboat. Manly was rescued unhurt, although he was briefly trapped underwater after the second test. Samuel Pierpont Langley - Potomac experiment 1903

Samuel Pierpont Langley - Potomac experiment 1903

During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Manly was an advisor to the British

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

. He also earned about 40 patents in variable-speed hydraulic drives. From 1915 to 1919 he was a consulting engineer to the

Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company The Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company (1909–1929) was an American aircraft manufacturer originally founded by Glenn Curtiss, Glenn Hammond Curtiss and Augustus Moore Herring in Hammondsport, New York. After significant commercial success in ...

. In 1919 he was named president of the Society of Automotive Engineers (now

SAE International SAE International is a global professional association and standards organization based in Warrendale, Pennsylvania, United States. Formerly the Society of Automotive Engineers, the organization adopted its current name in 2006 to reflect bot ...

). Following his tenure he did additional engineering research on engines. The Manly Memorial Medal is an annual award given by SAE for the best

paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, Textile, rags, poaceae, grasses, Feces#Other uses, herbivore dung, or other vegetable sources in water. Once the water is dra ...

on aeronautical power plants. Manly married his wife Grace Agnes Wishart Manly (1877–1921) in 1904. He died at Kew Gardens, Brooklyn, NY on October 16, 1927, leaving two sons, Charles and John. He was a 1929

posthumous Posthumous may refer to: * Posthumous award, an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death * Posthumous publication, publishing of creative work after the author's death * Posthumous (album), ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1 ...

recipient of the Langley Gold Medal from the

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Manly, Charles M. 1876 births 1927 deaths American mechanical engineers American test pilots Cornell University alumni Engineers from Virginia Smithsonian Institution people 20th-century American engineers