Samuel Pierpont Langley achieved in 1896, with the Aerodrome No. 5, the first sustained flight of a significantly sized unmanned, powered, heavier-than-air machine, covering approximately 1,000 meters over the Potomac. This result is usually overshadowed by the later failure of his piloted attempts in 1903 and by the controversy with the Wrights. Separating the technical milestones allows recognition that Langley had solved, before 1903, a real part of the problem of powered flight.