George Cayley

For his grandson, the cricketer, see George Cayley (cricketer). For the Royal Navy admiral and RAF general, see G. C. Cayley.

Sir
George Cayley
Bt
Portrait of Cayley c.1840 by Henry Perronet Briggs
Born(1773-12-27)27 December 1773
Scarborough, Yorkshire, England
Died15 December 1857(1857-12-15) (aged 83)
Brompton, Yorkshire, England
NationalityEnglish
CitizenshipBritish
Known forDesigned first successful human glider. Discovered the four aerodynamic forces of flight: weight, lift, drag, thrust; and cambered wings, basis for the design of the modern aeroplane.
SpouseSarah Benskin Charlotte Elizabeth Illingworth
Scientific career
FieldsAviation, aerodynamics, aeronautics, aeronautical engineering

Sir George Cayley,[1] 6th Baronet (27 December 1773 – 15 December 1857)[2] was an English engineer, inventor, and aviator. He is one of the most important people in the history of aeronautics. Many consider him to be the first true scientific aerial investigator and the first person to understand the underlying principles and forces of flight and the first man to create the wire wheel.[3]

In 1799, he set forth the concept of the modern aeroplane as a fixed-wing flying machine with separate systems for lift, propulsion, and control.[4][5] He was a pioneer of aeronautical engineering and is sometimes referred to as "the father of aviation."[3] He identified the four forces which act on a heavier-than-air flying vehicle: weight, lift, drag and thrust.[6] Modern aeroplane design is based on those discoveries and on the importance of cambered wings, also proposed by Cayley.[7] He constructed the first flying model aeroplane and also diagrammed the elements of vertical flight.[8] He also designed the first glider reliably reported to carry a human aloft. He correctly predicted that sustained flight would not occur until a lightweight engine was developed to provide adequate thrust and lift.[9] The Wright brothers acknowledged his importance to the development of aviation.[9]

Cayley represented the Whig party as Member of Parliament for Scarborough from 1832 to 1835, and in 1838, helped found the UK's first Polytechnic Institute, the Royal Polytechnic Institution (now University of Westminster) and served as its chairman for many years. He was elected as a Vice-President of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society in 1824.[10] He was a founding member of the British Association for the Advancement of Science and was a distant cousin of the mathematician Arthur Cayley.

  1. ^ "George Cayley's life". hotairengines.org.
  2. ^ Bagley, John A. "Cayley, Sir George, sixth baronet". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/37271. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  3. ^ a b
  4. ^ "Aviation History". Retrieved 26 July 2009.
  5. ^ "Sir George Cayley (British Inventor and Scientist)". Britannica. Retrieved 26 July 2009.
  6. ^ Sir George Cayley – Making Aviation Practical U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission. Retrieved 28 June 2016
  7. ^ C. H. Gibbs-Smith (20 September 1962) New Light on Cayley Flight International, link from Flightglobal
  8. ^ "Sir George Cayley". U.S Centennial of Flight Commission. Retrieved 10 September 2008.
  9. ^ a b "The Pioneers: Aviation and Airmodelling". Retrieved 26 July 2009.
  10. ^ Annual Report of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society for 1824 (Report). Yorkshire Philosophical Society. 1825. p. 34.