Many months were consumed with preparations, but once the tests commenced failure mounted atop failure, through November and December of 1893 and into June of 1894. A seemingly prophetic recurrent difficulty with excessive flexing of the wings resulted in a number of failures and inconsistent results. In October of 1894, Aerodrome No. 4 made a short hop of 130 feet over the Potomac River. Toward the end of 1894 two Aerodromes (the framework of which were built largely of steel) with more adequately wired and braced wings were constructed. Aerodrome No. 5 flew 100 feet during December of 1894. In May of 1895 Langley hired Augustus M. Herring as an assistant. At the end of 1895, Langley was not enthusiastic over the results he had thus far secured, considering the amount of time, effort and money which had been expended.