Had never heard of John Stringfellow before. Pretty interesting stuff for his time...
"John Stringfellow, who had grown up in the lace and carriage building industries, had a real appreciation for machines, and most especially for steam engines. He became intimately familiar with the oddities of steam powerplants and demonstrated a remarkable ability at designing and building light steam engines."
...
"Their first large model "ARIEL" failed to fly and they went on, over the course of almost two years, to construct a larger version with a 20 foot wing span. Between 1844 and 1847 Henson and Stringfellow made a series of attempts to fly their "ARIEL" models but they simply did not fly. In 1848 Henson left the enterprise and moved with his wife and family to the U.S., leaving Stringfellow to pursue aeronautical research on his own."
...
"The first result of Stringfellow's efforts was the 1848 machine shown below, which was powered by two contra-rotating propellers driven by one of Stringfellow's powerful and lightweight steam engines. The first attempt to fly the 10 foot wing span machine took place indoors, and a lack of proper balance resulted in a failure and damage to the machine. The second attempt was a rather wonderful success, for the flying machine left a guide wire and flew straight and true for about 30 feet."
... But unfortunately...
"John Stringfellow had planned to eventually build a flying machine which would carry him aloft, and equipped a building for just that purpose. Age and illness intervened, however, and that machine was not built."
http://www.flyingmachines.org/strng.html
"John Stringfellow, who had grown up in the lace and carriage building industries, had a real appreciation for machines, and most especially for steam engines. He became intimately familiar with the oddities of steam powerplants and demonstrated a remarkable ability at designing and building light steam engines."
...
"Their first large model "ARIEL" failed to fly and they went on, over the course of almost two years, to construct a larger version with a 20 foot wing span. Between 1844 and 1847 Henson and Stringfellow made a series of attempts to fly their "ARIEL" models but they simply did not fly. In 1848 Henson left the enterprise and moved with his wife and family to the U.S., leaving Stringfellow to pursue aeronautical research on his own."
...
"The first result of Stringfellow's efforts was the 1848 machine shown below, which was powered by two contra-rotating propellers driven by one of Stringfellow's powerful and lightweight steam engines. The first attempt to fly the 10 foot wing span machine took place indoors, and a lack of proper balance resulted in a failure and damage to the machine. The second attempt was a rather wonderful success, for the flying machine left a guide wire and flew straight and true for about 30 feet."
... But unfortunately...
"John Stringfellow had planned to eventually build a flying machine which would carry him aloft, and equipped a building for just that purpose. Age and illness intervened, however, and that machine was not built."
http://www.flyingmachines.org/strng.html
