Stringfellow Steam Engine
date: label: Date
content: 1868
name: label: Manufacturer
content: John Stringfellow
notes: label: Physical Description
content: Type: Reciprocating, steam, single cylinder, alcohol fuel
label: Physical Description
content: Power rating: 0.813 kW (1.1 hp) at 445 N (100 lb) boiler pressure, 300 rpm
label: Physical Description
content: Displacement: 0.15 L (9.42 cu in.)
label: Physical Description
content: Bore and Stroke: 5.1 cm (2 in.) x 7.6 cm (3 in.)
label: Physical Description
content: Weight: 5.9 kg (13 lb)
label: Summary
content: Like the Wright brothers, who followed, John Stringfellow and his associate William Henson are an important link to early aeronautical researchers. At an exposition in 1868 in London's Crystal Palace, where it powered a triplane model along a cable, the Aeronautical Society of Great Britain awarded a prize of £100 to Stringfellow’s engine as the lightest in proportion to its power, producing 0.75 kW (one horsepower) for the weight of 5.9 kg (13 pounds).
label: Summary
content: In 1889, Smithsonian Secretary Samuel P. Langley purchased the engine, along with a "car" designed to carry an engine and a pair of propellers, for £25. Langley held on to the engine briefly, sending it to L.D. Copeland of Smithville, N.J., for experimental work. Upon return of the engine to Langley, he turned it over to the museum section of the Smithsonian for public display, also in 1889.
place: label: Country of Origin
content: United Kingdom
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Air and Space Museum Collection
label: Location
content: National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC
label: Exhibition
content: Early Flight
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Purchased from Frederick J. Stringfellow
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Air and Space Museum
identifier: label: Inventory Number
content: A18890001000
objectType: label: Type
content: PROPULSION-Reciprocating & Rotary
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Materials
content: Metal
label: Materials
content: Copper alloy
label: Materials
content: Steel
label: Materials
content: Cotton
label: Materials
content: Wood
label: Materials
content: Paint
label: Materials
content: Clear coating
label: Dimensions
content: 3-D: 60.5 × 12.8 × 60.2cm (23 13/16 × 5 1/16 × 23 11/16 in.)