A Brief History of Flight
Sir George Cayley's Gliders, by Sheranda and
Jessica
Cayley started experimenting with gliders in 1789, at
the age of 23. He flew several fixed-wing gliders by the
year 1809. He found many of the forces of flight. He
discovered the forces of lift, drag, and thrust. He was
the first to use a tail on an aircraft to keep it stable.
He watched birds and this gave him the idea of a fixed-wing
glider. He also found out that a wing needs a curved upper
surface. Before he died in 1857, he built a full-size
glider with control lines attached that sailed like a kite.
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