Cayley, George

Autor: Cayley, George
Rok: 1773-1857

Biogr./Hist. údaje: Anglický vynálezce, průkopník letectví.
Zdroj: Autoritní databáze Národní knihovny ČR

Sir George Cayley, 6th Baronet (27 December 1773 – 15 December 1857) was a prolific English engineer and 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.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.He was a pioneer of aeronautical engineering and is sometimes referred to as "the father of aviation", Designer of the first glider to carry a human being aloft, he discovered and identified the four aerodynamic forces of flight, which act on any flying vehicle: weight, lift, drag, and thrust. Modern aeroplane design is based on those discoveries, and also on the importance of cambered wings, also identified by Cayley.He worked over half a century before the development of powered flight; his importance was acknowledged by the Wright brothers. He constructed the first flying model aeroplane and also diagrammed the elements of vertical flight.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 a founding member of the British Association for the Advancement of Science and was a distant cousin of the mathematician Arthur Cayley.