The Ariel

View of 'The Ariel' c. 1843. An Aerial carriage as it makes a flight over London. Engraved; 'This engraving of the first carriage, the "Ariel" is respectfully inscribed to the Directors of the Aerial Transit Company.' The print shows an imaginary scene of the 'Aerial steam carriage' in flight, although the plane itself barely flew at all. The design for the stream-driven airplane was created by William Samuel Henson and John Stringfellow. They created a massive publicity campaign using illustrations of the Ariel in flight over London, Egypt, India, and China and built models from 1844 to 1848 but the Ariel did not fly with any success. See http://www.fiddlersgreen.net/AC/aircraft/Henson-Flyingmachine/info/info.htm