If you recall in the 1965 version of the movie “The

Flight of the Phoenix” the character Heinrich

Dorfmann says the following: “In 1841 Henson and
Stringfellow built a rubber-powered model that flew
600 meters before encountering an obstruction”. So you
ask yourself who are Henson and Stringfellow. Were
they aviation pioneers? Did they do something historic?
And if so what was it?

Their names were William Samuel Henson and John

Stringfellow. Henson was born May 3, 1812 in the town
Chard, which is in the county of Somerset, England. He
became a successful businessman like his father in the
lace-making industry in Somerset. John Stringfellow
was born December 6, 1799 in Attercliffe near Sheffield,
England. He was an engineer and also in the lace-
making industry in Somerset.

Mr. Henson’s aeronautical work was influenced by the

world renowned Sir George Cayley. Henson and
Stringfellow designed a steam-driven aircraft which
they called an: “aerial steam carriage” which was the
first known design for a propeller-driven fixed-wing
aircraft. Mr. Henson submitted a patent (British Patent
# 9478) in 1842 for a flying machine called the “Aerial”.
When one looks at these drawings the elements of
design and construction that were later used in Word
War I era aircraft can be seen.
And according to the patent it planned "to convey
letters, goods and passengers from place to place
through the air". This would have made it the first air
mail carrier or airline. In 1843 Henson and Stringfellow
formed a company with Frederick Marriott, and D.E.
Colombine called: “Aerial Transit Company”.

Frederick Marriott was credited in later years with

coining the term “aeroplane”. What Henson and
Stringfellow had done was 60 years before the Wright
Brother’s first successful flight on December 17, 1903.
They also created a very impressive public media
campaign with flyers and posters of the aircraft
“Aerial” depicting it in flight in exotic locations. These
flyers and posters appeared all over the world. And the
“Aerial” had never actually flown; it had made a very,
very short hop. The reason for this is that it’s power
plant which was a steam engine was too heavy and
under-powered (it had 30-horsepower). But the
engineering of the aircraft design itself was very sound
and it would influence future aeronautical thinking.

Henson was married to Sarah Ann Jones in 1848. In

1849 he and his wife emigrated to the U.S. and they
lived in Newark, New Jersey. He would go on to be
known as “Mad-man” Henson. He was a broken and
humiliated man in his later years. He died in 1888. He
was buried in East Orange, New Jersey.
 John Stringfellow was married to Hannah Keetch in
1827. He was awarded a prize of L100 pounds at the
aeronautical exhibition at Crystal Palace in June 1868
by the Royal Aeronautical Society for his model steam
engine. His steam engine had the highest power-to-
weight ratio of the 15 engines on display. He was elected
a member of the Royal Aeronautical Society also in
1868. He had a triplane design (see below) and his work
laid the foundation for those that followed. Had
Stringfellow had a small lightweight internal
combustion engine available he would have been able to
fly at least 40 years before the Wright Brother’s. John
Stringfellow died in 1883 in Chard.