George Cayley

Sir George Cayley, 6th Baronet, was an English engineer, inventor and aviator regarded as a pioneer of aeronautical engineering and sometimes called the father of aviation. He designed the first glider reliably reported to have carried a human aloft and is commonly credited as the first person to understand the underlying principles and forces of heavier-than-air flight: weight, lift, drag and thrust. He was also the inventor of the wire wheel.