Steam-powered aircraft

So, how possible would it be for aircraft to be invented early enough (say, 1870s/1880s) to have to be steam-powered? OTL, there were some designs for such aircraft, and some were even tested, but none were successful. If at least one had succeeded, then what would the immediate effects of heavier-than-air craft being developed early be on the world? How long would steam power last for aircraft, at the longest, before eventually being replaced by internal combustion engines? And what would be the effect on aviation history?
 
How about steam-powered dirigibles? I know it's a cliché, but it might actually work.

How are you going keep the hot boiler, which is REALLY heavy BTW, from igniting the hydrogen I assuming that you are using as lifting gas. Because hydrogen+spark=bad. :p
 

Delta Force

Banned
The boiler Maxim invented for his aircraft wasn't that heavy. It weighed 904 pounds empty and 1,200 pounds with water. The boilers were able to deliver 363 horsepower total to two propellers. The power to weight ratio is something like 0.30 horsepower per pound, which is better than the Wright Flyer's engine which weighed 170 pounds and put out 12 horsepower (giving a power to weight ratio of 0.07 horsepower per pound). It is possible the first flying machines could have been steam powered if Maxim had focused more on the technology.

Links:
http://www.ctie.monash.edu.au/hargrave/maxim.html
http://www.griffwason.com/wright_flyer_engine-info.htm
 
just a thought, a cryogenic rocket engine running on hydrogen and oxygen produces superheated water (aka steam) as an exhaust product.
Would that count as steam powered?
 
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