Ariel, alebo Aerial Steam Carriage (vzdusny parny voz) bol jednym z prvych vaznych pokusov o dokaz, ze vec nemusi byt lahsia ako vzduch, aby mohla letiet. Roku 1842 si dvaja britski vynalezcovia, William S.Henson a John Stringfellow nechali uznat patent na podivny, parou pohanany lietajuci stroj, ktory podla ich vypoctov mal dosiahnut rychlost 50 mil/h a dolet okolo 1000 mil. Malo ist o hornoplosnik s uzavretou kabinou pre pilota a 10 pasazierov, urceny na dialkove a vyhliadkove lety. Snemovna sa nad prosbou o statnu podporu zasmeje, avsak patent dostanu.



the first part of my invention consists of an apparatus so constructed as to offer a very extended surface or plane of a light yet strong construction, which will have the same relation to the general machine which the extended wings of a bird have to the body when a bird is skimming in the air; but in place of the movement or power for onward progress being obtained by movement of the extended surface or plane, as is the case with the wings of birds, I apply suitable paddle-wheels or other proper mechanical propellers worked by a steam or other sufficiently light engine, and thus obtain the requisite power for onward movement to the plane or extended surface; and in order to give control as to the upward and downward direction of such a machine I apply a tail to the extended surface which is capable of being inclined or raised, so that when the power is acting to propel the machine, by inclining the tail upwards, the resistance offered by the air will cause the machine to rise on the air; and, on the contrary, when the inclination of the tail is reversed, the machine will immediately be propelled downwards



K zostrojeniu Ariela napokon z viacerych dovodov nedoslo. Roku 1843 zalozili firmu Aerial Transit Company, ktorej prvym ucelom bola propagacia a financovanie pokusnych letov. Este toho roku zostrojili zmenseny model, ktory ale nebol schopny suvisleho letu. Pokusali sa on do roku 1847, kym sa Henson nerozhodol zanechat projekt a emigrovat do USA. Stringfellow kazdopadne v pokusoch pokracoval a v meruôsmom roku napokon zostrojil upraveny, asi trojmetrovy model, ktory dokazal lietat a ktory je dodnes vystaveny v londynskom muzeu vedy.