NOW: Notes on early attempts at heavier than Air Flying Machines.
From the 'THE EARLY BIRDS' by Arch Whitehouse; LCCNo. 65-17249
p.14 "It was not until the appearance of the British engineer, John
Stringfellow, with his series of steam-powered- models in 1848 that the
possibility of mechanical Flight (as opposed to lighter-than-air conquests of
the ballooning science) seemed within reach. After W. S. Henson had given up
his quest, Stringfellow who had been associated with Henson's Aerial Transit
Company, kept at the 'task, and eventually gave the scientific world its most
satisfactory machine.
Stringfellow first redesigned and lightened the steam engine that had been
used in earlier models, and then began experimenting with a model of
twenty-foot wingspread, powered by twin propellers. This device was launched
from a taut starting cable, and when it reached "the Point of
self-detachment," it gradually rose and flew the length of a long room in
Stringfellow's lace factory located at Chard in
End to date: 051103, ams