It’s always interesting when we are at a point of change. During these times we see all different types of technology being used to try and accomplish something and this usually leads to the most proficient form of energy eventually finding its way to accomplish the task. I am using the word usually, because while most of the time what I said is true, sometimes there are factors which change what happens. Take the case of the gasoline engine, if it wasn’t for the fact companies like Standard Oil were pushing the internal combustion engine and pushing it to run on petroleum products we might have had either more proficient electric engines at the time or we might have been powering our vehicles with an improved type of steam power.

I think one of the most interesting times happened just before the invention of the airplane when many people were trying to build aircraft that were steam powered. Sometimes a model can be created which works perfectly, but when you try and scale it up to a full size the problems begin. In 1842 the Aerial Steam Carriage was being worked on by William Samuel Hansen and John Stringfellow. They were able to make a model airplane which flew using steam power in 1848. It seemed the era of steam powered airplanes was about to dawn. Can you imagine what a difference this would have made in the American Civil War? That war would have been more like World War I with steam powered planes strafing and dropping bombs. Maybe it is a lucky thing the 2 men were never able to build a full sized steam powered airplane, even though they had flown the model.

We know the Confederacy was desperate to develop a submarine. They were so desperate they killed several crews trying to get their people powered submarine to work and in the end it sunk after planting a torpedo. The name of the submarine was the Hunley. The Confederates had also been working on a steam powered helicopter. The helicopter was designed with the idea it would be used as a weapon and not just an observation platform like a balloon. It was designed to drop bombs on union troops. William C. Powers was the chief designer. It was described as being from 20 to 30 feet tall and 20 to 25 feet long with a width of 10 to 15 feet. A model was created and it was said it worked and the next step was the creation of a full-sized markup, but unfortunately for Powers the Confederacy lacked the resources to produce a working full size edition. If they would’ve succeeded it is conceivable they could have won the Civil War. The name helicopter was actually coined by Gustav Ponton d’Amecourt who also tried to develop a steam powered helicopter in 1861 or 1862, the date is not clear in history.

As years went by several inventors were able to develop model steam planes. In 1874 Felix du Temple de la Croix is credited by many as making the first flight. I can hear all those Wright Brothers supporters moaning when I say that. One of the reasons this flight was not recorded as the first was the fact it was not level flight. He had constructed an aluminum monoplane which was powered by a steam engine and flew it downhill. The plane had a 6 hp engine. He and his brother had constructed model planes and the first one flew with a clockwork engine, but the second one had steam power. The main problem they had was as the planes got bigger the steam engines got heavier and their power output was insufficient. Felix and his brother eventually developed a very light boiler which weighed only 39 to 44 pounds. Their plane only weighed about 200 pounds without the pilot, but many claim it really didn’t fly it just glided to the bottom of the hill.

It seems if steam engines would have been capable of higher power outputs we may have had airplanes about 60 years sooner than we did. Many different countries were engaged in a race to produce the first steam powered airplane. In 1882 Alexander Fedorovich Mozhaysky and the Imperial Russian Navy tried to build a steam powered airplane. In 1876 he began work on a heavier than air craft. His plane was never able to achieve lift due to the design of the wings. He built a ramp which allowed the craft to ascend after launch, but most believe the planes design would have never allowed for it to have achieved flight. In 1909 a Russian newspaper claimed he did achieve powered flight and this claim was repeated many times throughout history.

As years went by it seemed steam powered flight was becoming a possibility. More steam powered model airplanes were being built and flown. People such as Carl Richard Nyberg Flugan worked on steam powered aircraft for 25 years from 1897 to 1922, but he was never able to develop an airplane which could fly more than a few feet at a time. His plane produced 10 hp and is said its power to weight ratio was better than the Wright brothers’ plane. This seems to indicate some sort of a design problem and proves if true, Flugan could have been the first to achieve a level flight if his plane had a more efficient design.

There were also unconfirmed claims stating steam powered planes actually flew. Mysteriously these were never confirmed. If true you would have thought there would have been many witnesses around to see this. Sometimes supposed facts cannot be confirmed. Such was the case with Gustav Whitehead who claimed to have flown steam powered airplanes in Pittsburgh and Hartford and even claimed to have been visited by the Wright brothers. There is no evidence of any kind to prove any of this was true. It wasn’t until 1933 that steam powered airplanes were said to have achieved and sustained level flight. By then steam power was finished and the day of the steam powered airplane had passed.