<P> "AirPower over Hampton Roads" is a recurring airshow held at Langley in the spring . Many demonstrations take place, including the F - 22 Raptor Demonstration, Aerobatics, and parachute demos . </P> <P> Because of the possibility of crashes of the F - 22s and other aircraft stationed at the base, the City of Hampton has partnered with the Commonwealth of Virginia and United States Air Force to purchase privately owned property within the Clear Zone and Accident Potential Zones, without using eminent domain, to create a safety buffer zone around the base . </P> <P> Langley Field was named after Samuel Pierpont Langley, an aerodynamic pioneer and a former Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution . Langley began aerodynamic experiments in 1887 and formed a basis for practical pioneer aviation . He built and saw the first steam model airplane in 1896 and the first gasoline model in 1903 . Both planes were believed to be capable of flight . He also built the first man - carrying gasoline airplane in 1903, which failed to fly on its first attempt and broke apart and crashed on its second . It was, after major modification eleven years later, flown "successfully" by Glenn Curtiss for a little over 3 seconds, traveling 150 feet through the air in 1914 . Langley Field was the first Air Service base built especially for air power, is the oldest continually active air force base in the world, and is the oldest airfield in Virginia . </P> <P> In 1916, the National Advisory Council for Aeronautics (NACA), predecessor to NASA, established the need for a joint airfield and proving ground for Army, Navy and NACA aircraft . NACA determined that the site must be near water for over-water flying, be flat and relatively clear for expansion and the landing and take - off of aircraft, and near an Army post . The Army appointed a board of officers who searched for a location . The officers sometimes posed as hunters and fishermen to avoid potential land speculation which would arise if the government's interest in purchasing land was revealed . Fifteen locations were scouted before a site near Hampton in Elizabeth City County was selected . </P>

Who is langley air force base named for