Cayley's glider (fixed wing separated from propulsion)
Planeador de Cayley (ala fija separada de la propulsión)
- Date
- 1799-1853 · confidence high
- Place
- Brompton Dale, North Yorkshire, United Kingdom
- Credited to
- George Cayley
- Field
- Movement
What it is
In 1799 Cayley fixed the configuration of the aeroplane (fixed wing, tail and propulsion separate) and tested models and scale gliders until 1853, when a manned glider crossed Brompton Dale with his coachman on board. He defined the four forces of flight: weight, lift, thrust and drag.
The manned 1853 flight is known from later testimony; the coachman (whose name is disputed) was not a pilot. In 1849 Cayley had already launched a glider with a boy aboard.
What it led to
- the scientific aerodynamics of heavier-than-air flight
- the gliders of Lilienthal and the Wright brothers