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Gliders
Heavier-than-air
craft were able to glide short distances after being run into
the air by their pilots. Cayley (UK) claimed a flight of several yards in
1809. A plan view of his glider design is shown in A, and C shows a sketch
for the model constructed in 1804.
Cayley also initiated experiments to
understand how airfoils provided the lift needed for sustained flight. The
device shown in sketch B indicates a rotating arm with an attached airfoil,
the device being powered by a falling weight. The arm is statically balanced
and lift from the motion of the wing through the air will tilt the arm about
the axle through the drive rod. These experiments indicated to Cayley that
there was a region of low pressure above the curved wing that gave rise to the
lift, and he published this conclusion in 1810.
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