Re: OT steam powered airplane

bcp Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I wonder why this never went farther. Maybe
> having to carry both water and fuel.
>
> [www.aircraftowner.com]
> r-steam-plane_658.html

Because they never intended to.

The powerplant came from the work of the Doble Brothers and Doble
Steam Motors, maker of the Doble steam car. The firm went under
after the Wall Street Crash 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 Doble Model F,
which featured a steam driven boiler feedpump and other improvements.
However, they 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.

The Besler steam airplane was flown on a few short flights by William
Bessler on April 12th and 13th of 1933; then never flown again. Why
exactly it was never flown after that is something of mystery; one
possibility is that there were problems with extended running of the
steam engine. Another possibility is that once the Besler Steam
Airplane had received all of the publicity it received on those two
days, it's job as a publicity stunt was finished. It is believed
that the aircraft was sold to Japan, where it disappeared.

It was never their intention to put it into production; rather, it was
to show the possible benefits of using a Doble steam powerplant in
various possible applications.

-James Hefner
Hebrews 10:20a

Surviving World Steam Project- New Address!

International Stationary Steam Engine Society