Alexander Graham Bell's kite experiments resulted in the design of Cygnet III, which left the ground in powered flight in March, 1912 with John McCurdy at the controls. Bell was a close friend of Smithsonian Secretary and aviation pioneer Samuel P. Langley, and witnessed Langley's Aerodrome tests.  Bell launched his own pioneering aeronautical experiments following Langley's death in 1906.

Photograph is featured in National Air and Space Museum: An Autobiography