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In my steampunk world (developed to roughly 1870-1910 levels of technological development), there are no oil deposits and flatlands are highly valuable due to their relative rarity (the entire thing is located on basically a humongous vertical rocky cliff, with only some ledges reaching the sizes of small islands, which are mostly used as strategically important locations for farming).

Since oil is required to make light and powerful enough internal combustion engine be viable, and the land is too valuable to waste on building landing strips - would that be enough to strangle the concept of a heavier than air aircraft in infancy (Other than engineless gliders, maybe?) and not worry that it would displace airships as the most efficient way to travel by air?

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    $\begingroup$ Airships consume more fuel that airplanes. (The engines of the airplane are not there to keep it aloft; that's what the wings are for. The engines are there to push the airplane through the air; airships have vaaaaaastly larger cross sections than airplanes.) $\endgroup$
    – AlexP
    Commented Oct 26, 2020 at 12:27
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    $\begingroup$ Although the engines pushing/pulling the airplane through the air are what causes lift to affect the wings, bringing the plane into the air, so the engine contributes greatly to the plane staying aloft. Apologies for the correction - it's pretty critical to aerodynamics and Bernoulli's principal - lift happens when there is airflow passing over and under the wing; that is achieved by speed, and therefore the engine. A glider outsources it's engine, it still needs the same thing. An elastic band would eliminate the "engine" but it's still an external supply of speed to create lift. $\endgroup$
    – distracteded
    Commented Oct 26, 2020 at 12:41
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    $\begingroup$ @AlexP Have you actually done a real number-crunch on this, or are you extrapolating it from your beliefs that the engines are not involved in the wings holding up the airplane, and that cross-section is the deciding factor in air resistance? $\endgroup$
    – Harper - Reinstate Monica
    Commented Oct 26, 2020 at 14:21
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    $\begingroup$ @Harper-ReinstateMonica: An Airbus A340 burns about 50 tonnes of fuel flying 260 passengers from Berlin to New York. The Hindenburg burned 55 tonnes of fuel for the same flight, carrying 70 passengers. The A340 consumes four times less fuel per passenger, and flies about seven times faster. Progress is a good thing. $\endgroup$
    – AlexP
    Commented Oct 26, 2020 at 14:49
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    $\begingroup$ @OK, so you didn't make an effort at all, and you're just blurting out the first facts you came to. You haven't optimized either mode for fuel economy, or even applying the most basic facts about aerodynamic drag. "engines don't keep planes aloft", I had to know it would only go downhill from there... $\endgroup$
    – Harper - Reinstate Monica
    Commented Oct 26, 2020 at 14:54

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Biodiesel or Alcohol both make great fuel for engines, and can be made from any foodstuffs.

It you people can eat, they have the base materials to make fuel.

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I think you're strangling the development of engines nicely. :)

However there are also many other moving parts that need to use lubricants like oils in order to operate - doors, gates, anything with a hinge; telescopic sliders in binoculars; gears in wind-up toys and watches; guns guns guns, from flintlock through to fully automatic repeating weapons, etc. If it has two bits of metal touching or scraping together it'll need lubricant.

So for these you may need to investigate some type of substitute.

Perhaps you might like to make your people more agrarian, in which case good old soybeans might be useful:

https://www.resourceefficient.eu/en/good-practice/soybean-oil-lubricant-substitute

On another Stack Exchange, they've discussed this here: https://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/7079/what-happens-if-i-use-vegetable-oil-instead-of-machine-oil-or-grease#:~:text=Oil%2C%20WD40%2C%20or%20any%20petro,a%20bit%20messy%20to%20use.

I noticed one poster mentioning silicon-based lubricant. So silicon might be a go-er for you. Here's a page I've found helping explain the basics of it: https://www.naturalhandyman.com/iip/infxtra/infsil.html

Of course these bring engines back into play, but maybe you can create a supply/demand problem much easier with these alternatives eg soybeans can only grow in flatland areas, or silicate mining is eroding places to live in the cliffs etc.

Hope this helps!

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    $\begingroup$ Other oils are not a problem; you just use animal or plant oils. Or for things like hinges, one of my favorites: graphite paint, with the pigment replaced with graphite powder. It's deliciously slippery without being sticky, so it doesn't collect dust and dirt. Any agricultural supply sells it. $\endgroup$
    – Harper - Reinstate Monica
    Commented Oct 26, 2020 at 14:16
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Engineers will only develop things that work

The 19th century.. In that period, on Earth, diesel engines were invented. But this invention was feasible and successful, because it depended on a ready available fuel. There exists no fuel on your planet, so engineers would not imagine/design/draw/build any type of engine that uses it. Problem solved, keep optimistic. There is no need for fuel because nothing uses fuel. In short, as a consequence of your world's limitations, a fossil fuel or biomass fuel engine design would never have happened.

Sail powered airships

A wood-fueled manned balloon was invented in the 18th century. Lilienthal flew a glider in 1891, and on your planet, there will be someone attempting the same thing. Humans always want to fly. Your people may accomplish flight. Actual air transport we accomplished in 30-40 years, using motorized aircraft (Wrights brothers, Blériot, DC-3) but without diesel fuel, that would not have happened. No Hindenburgs either... This airship was just a balloon with some diesel engines mounted on it.

Probably, your airships will require sails at first, like this baby,

enter image description here

See also WB topic How could a sail powered airship work?

Electric flight

Modern insights - after 1870 - have found there are three energy sources for engines, that is fossil fuel, biomass fuel, or.. electricity.

The electromotor could be an option. It will need steel for some of its parts. Steel could be produced manually, or using machines and lots of energy. It needs to be precise. In Sweden, they use machines and energy, but they say they can do it without the fossil fuels,

enter image description here https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/08/sweden-hybrit-first-fossil-free-steel/

What if your steampunks would set up some generators ? wind energy, or tidal energy. Harvest Earth heat.. Solar heat collectors.. or let your people discover fission energy and try the nuclear option to generate electricity. There is no science tag, what about cold fusion ?

Based on electricity, an electric motor will be invented. Next step would be to develop light weight batteries.. and off the cliff you go ! With small aircraft, landing won't be an issue. STOL landings require very little space.

enter image description here Earth 2020

Upscaling the electric aircraft to make it an actual means of transport will be an issue to overcome. Nowadays, on Earth, we are about in that stage. We have very agile Pipistrel aircraft: two-seaters. For more passengers or transport, things are in an experimental stage, the electric Cessna Caravan can fly 14 passengers,

enter image description here

https://robbreport.com/motors/aviation/worlds-largest-electric-airplane-takes-flight-2930460/

Be patient.. some time it will happen

We developed electric flight in 120 years or so. Keep in mind developments on your steampunk world, without fuel, could take centuries instead of decades. But they will result in super-lean designs, with energy usage efficiency we can only dream of.

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    $\begingroup$ steam punk. Not cyber punk. So you think that overly efficient steam engine can't be used on zeppelins? Even if their lifting force is also higher than it should be? $\endgroup$
    – Darth Biomech
    Commented Dec 10, 2021 at 21:27
  • $\begingroup$ edited.. and indeed.. I supposed there is no fossil fuel, but you did not mension coal. With coal, at least steel production would be a lot easier ! Of course, it depends on the amount, but coal would help development. For aircraft.. you'll need a conversion. Coal as fuel is too heavy to lift and transport as weight. $\endgroup$
    – Goodies
    Commented Dec 10, 2021 at 23:37
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It's pretty easy to run planes on ethanol if not jets. It's a low vibration fuel, and easy enough to make.

Since you want such planes to not be a thing, just have it be common to have birds that love the smell of ethanol and other fuels and will fly at planes which carry it.

Airships can carry fuel tanks deeper inside them and stay safe, be they coal or ethanol.

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