Background
Cayley, from Brompton-by-Sawdon, near Scarborough in Yorkshire, inherited Brompton Hall and Wydale Hall and other estates on the death of his father, the 5th baronet.
aeronautical engineering aerodynamics aviation aeronautics
Cayley, from Brompton-by-Sawdon, near Scarborough in Yorkshire, inherited Brompton Hall and Wydale Hall and other estates on the death of his father, the 5th baronet.
After receiving his early education in schools at York and Nottingham, he went to Southgate in 1792 to study electricity and chemistry under the tutelage of George Cadogan Morgan.
In 1833 he was elected to Parliament and served two years. Cayley first experimented with aeronautics at Southgate in 1792, using a Chinese "flying top, " a toy helicopter demonstrated by Launoy and Bienvenu about 1784.
For several years after 1800 his notebook contains observations and theoretical studies on the flight of many species of birds.
His researches along both lines continued until about 1810.
In 1807 he experimented with an engine utilizing the heat of exploding gunpowder.
In 1808 he built some fixed-wing gliders of such size that he invented the tension or bicycle wheel for use as a launching device.
His articles in Nicholson's Journal of Natural Philosophy in 1809 and 1810, widely reprinted in later years, summarized his thoughts and the results of his experiments; he discussed the relation of velocity to lift, wing loading, stresses, weight saving, and the principle of the internal-combustion engine.
He recommended streamlining, stating that every pound (0. 45 kg) of direct resistance which could be avoided would support 30 pounds (13. 6 kg) of additional weight.
His biplane glider, with a wing area of 300 square feet (28 sq meters), could carry a man several yards (2-3 meters).
About 1815 Cayley became interested in navigable balloons, and his writings of that period discuss the relations of size to weights lifted, the desirable shape of the balloon for minimum air resistance, and the need for internal bracing.
Cayley patented his hot-air engine in 1837 and proposed a twin-rotor, steam-powered helicopter in 1840.
In 1853 he recommended the use of the screw propeller for power and suggested a hydrogen-powered engine as a possiblity.
There is evidence that he was still experimenting with gliders as late as 1850 to 1853, and with 1855 he described an improvement on the aerial top with which he had experimented more than 60 years before.
He was a member of Parliament for Scarborough
