George Cayley 250th Anniversary Symposium

Presentations include:

“Cayley “A Curious Man”, Dr Mary Jones, Biographer

“An Aeronautical Engineer Ahead of his Time,” Stephen Blee, Engineer

“Sir George Cayley as a public man”, Dr Kathryn Rix, History of Parliament Trust

Introduced and Chaired by Professor Emeritus Andy Marvin, Yorkshire Philosophical Society

George Cayley was born in Scarborough on 27th December 1773 and has been called both the “Father of the Aeroplane” and the “Father of Aerodynamics”. As a school boy he began his study of flight by observing birds and created a prototype helicopter. But unlike many inventors before him, Cayley quickly rejected the notion that an airship required flapping wings. He saw that seagulls changed the angle and shape of their wings to stay aloft, and realised that a man-made glider could do the same. In 1799 Cayley engraved a design for a manned glider on one side of a small silver disc. On the other side, he diagrammed the forces applied to flight.

Join us for this special event to mark the forthcoming 250th anniversary of Cayley’s birth. This event is supported by the Yorkshire Philosophical Society, the Yorkshire Museum, the Institute of Physics and the Royal Aeronautical Society.