Sir George Cayley, 6th Baronet 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.
Portrait of Cayley c.1840 by Henry Perronet Briggs
Cayley's glider in Mechanics' Magazine, 1852
Replica of Cayley's glider at the Yorkshire Air Museum
Blue plaque commemorating Cayley in Mayfair, London
Aeronautics is the science or art involved with the study, design, and manufacturing of air flight-capable machines, and the techniques of operating aircraft and rockets within the atmosphere. The British Royal Aeronautical Society identifies the aspects of "aeronautical Art, Science and Engineering" and "The profession of Aeronautics ."
Space Shuttle Atlantis on a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft
Designs for flying machines by Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1490
Montgolfier brothers flight, 1784
Lilienthal in mid-flight, Berlin c. 1895