HOW HUMANS LEARNED TO FLY

DISCOVER THE EVOLUTION OF HUMAN AVIATION, FROM FIRST PRIMITIVE FLYERS TO THE LUXURY PASSENGER JETS OF TODAY

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SINCE THE VERY FIRST HUMAN FLIGHT OVER TWO CENTURIES AGO, AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERS HAVE CONTINUED TO SCAN THE SKIES as they attempt to make each aircraft faster, safer, more comfortable and more efficient than before.

While many of the first people to study aviation were inspired by the natural flight of birds, the first substantial contributions to the field came when aircraft designers turned their focus away from the flapping motion of wings and towards more rigid structures. The first person to focus his experiments on fixed-wing aircraft was.

British engineer George Cayley. Before the first aeroplane was built, Cayley explained that for machines to operate successfully in the air, they would need separate systems to propel, lift and control them. He designed the first passenger-carrying glider in 1853.