King Rose Archives | 1933 Steam Biplane: How the Besler Brothers Made Aviation History @KingRoseArchives | Uploaded July 2024 | Updated October 2024, 21 hours ago.
The Besler brothers, George D. Besler and William J. Besler, developed steam engines with the hope that they would be adopted for all modes of transportation, including airplanes. On April 12 1933, their prototype steam biplane, based on a Travel Air 2000 (a 24 foot, three-person biplane with a cruising speed of 85 mph which was built from the late 1920s to the early 1930s by the Travel Air Manufacturing Company), flew several times at Oakland Municipal Airport in Northern California. The Besler Steam Plane was powered by a two-cylinder, 150 hp (110 kW) reciprocating engine designed by the Doble Steam Motors Company and Besler. The engine weighed about 500 lbs, and enabled short takeoff and landing (STOL) operations due to the ease of reversing the thrust, and the
Popular Science magazine praised the Besler brothers' achievement: "Over the Oakland, CA Airport, a few days ago, a silent plane slanted across the sky trailing a thin ribbon of white vapor. Spectators heard the pilot shout a greeting from the air. They saw him flash past, skimming the ground at 100 miles an hour. They watched him bank into a turn, slide to a landing, and, with the propeller spinning backward, roll to a stop in less than 100 feet. They had seen, for the first time in history, a man fly on wings powered by steam! Two brothers, George and William Besler, the former a geologist 31 years old, and the latter a mechanical engineer, two years younger, have achieved the dream of Maxim, Langley, and other pioneers of flight. Through their work, the steam-driven airplane, long talked about, long planned, has become a reality."
For availability and licensing inquiries, please contact:
globalimageworks.com/contact
Ref: S050
The Besler brothers, George D. Besler and William J. Besler, developed steam engines with the hope that they would be adopted for all modes of transportation, including airplanes. On April 12 1933, their prototype steam biplane, based on a Travel Air 2000 (a 24 foot, three-person biplane with a cruising speed of 85 mph which was built from the late 1920s to the early 1930s by the Travel Air Manufacturing Company), flew several times at Oakland Municipal Airport in Northern California. The Besler Steam Plane was powered by a two-cylinder, 150 hp (110 kW) reciprocating engine designed by the Doble Steam Motors Company and Besler. The engine weighed about 500 lbs, and enabled short takeoff and landing (STOL) operations due to the ease of reversing the thrust, and the
Popular Science magazine praised the Besler brothers' achievement: "Over the Oakland, CA Airport, a few days ago, a silent plane slanted across the sky trailing a thin ribbon of white vapor. Spectators heard the pilot shout a greeting from the air. They saw him flash past, skimming the ground at 100 miles an hour. They watched him bank into a turn, slide to a landing, and, with the propeller spinning backward, roll to a stop in less than 100 feet. They had seen, for the first time in history, a man fly on wings powered by steam! Two brothers, George and William Besler, the former a geologist 31 years old, and the latter a mechanical engineer, two years younger, have achieved the dream of Maxim, Langley, and other pioneers of flight. Through their work, the steam-driven airplane, long talked about, long planned, has become a reality."
For availability and licensing inquiries, please contact:
globalimageworks.com/contact
Ref: S050
