Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 July 2016
Sir George Cayley (1773–1857), a remarkable 19th century scientist, was the first to formulate the principle of powered flight when in 1809 he stated in .his paper ‘On Aerial Navigation’: ‘To make a surface support a given weight by the application of power to the resistance of the air’. More specifically, Cayley must be considered the founder of the science of aerodynamics, while also being the first to design and build and successfully fly gliders, thereby inaugurating the concept of the modern fixed-wing aircraft controlled by elevator and rudder.