The Doble company was famous for the Doble steam car, but a stock scandal and the Depression caused the Doble company to fold in April of 1931.
Many of the Doble patents were acquired by the Besler Brothers of Davenport, Iowa. I believe it was they who built the Model F, which featured a steam driven boiler feedpump and other improvements. However, they could probably see the handwriting on the wall when it came to steam cars, and they tried to find other uses for the Doble steam powerplant. It was they who also installed their steam plant on an interurban car, a railcar, and a steam aircraft.
The airframe used was a TravelAir Airspeed 2000, with its Curtiss OX-5 engine replaced with a Doble steam plant. The main engine was a vee arrangement of two compound cylinders with bores of 3 and 5 1/2 inches, and a common stroke of 2 inches. It developed 150HP at 1625 RPM; unlike a conventional engine, the power did not decrease with altitude. It had a fixed pitch propeller; but the entire engine could be reversed to reduce the landing roll to 100 feet. The main engine weighed 180 lbs; with boiler and auxiliaries, the powerplant weighed 485 pounds; or 300 pounds heavier than the Curtiss OX-5 engine it replaced. No attempt was made to reduce it's weight; it was described as "locomotive grade." It could raise steam in just five minutes; the engine itself was quiet enough that the pilot could communicate with others on the ground with the engine running. The condenser was an ordinary car radiator.
They then filmed a promotional video showing all three. Amazingly, this video has survived, and is available on the web on YouTube and at:
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www.archive.org]
The steam plane was only flown for two days, it was really more of a publicity stunt than a serious proposal. It then was sold to someone in Japan, where it disappeared. When the Besler steam airplane could not be located in Japan after World War II, a replica was built during the 1950s and is now in the Smithsonian collection. In addition, another Besler steam airplane powerplant was built for the U.S. Navy. It ended up being installed in a steam launch instead of an airplane, and it featured a belt driven three cylinder (triplex) water pump instead of a steam driven pump. It was probably the subject of the following "Survey of Engineering Progress":
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www.flyingkettle.com]
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www.flyingkettle.com]
And is thought to be the engine preserved either at the Warner Robins Air Force Museum in Warner Robins, Georgia USA, or at the Savannah Science Museum (from where it was loaned):
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lostbiro.com]
Finally, the nuclear reactor mentioned actually flew on a specially modified B-36. It was accompanied on all of it's test flights by a plane load of marines who were to parachute down and secure the area in the event of a crash. It did not power the plane, the purpose of the test was to see how a working reactor might have affected an otherwise standard airplane.
-James Hefner
Hebrews 10:20a
Surviving World Steam Project- New Address!
International Stationary Steam Engine Society