Taylor, G. A. (1872-1928), an Australian pioneer aviator and engineer, made what many historians regard as the first flight in Australia in a heavier-than-air craft. He made this flight in 1909 in Narrabeen, Sydney, in a glider that he had built. During the early 1900’s, he attempted to discover the principles of flight. In 1908, he began building a series of box kites. The tail of Taylor’s glider was itself a box kite. Before his flight, Taylor and his associates tested the glider by flying it from ropes like a kite.
George Augustine Taylor was born in Sydney on Aug. 1, 1872. In 1909, Taylor founded the Aerial League of Australia, from which an aviation club movement developed. In 1910, he founded the Wireless Institute of New South Wales. That same year, Taylor successfully transmitted radio messages from one moving train to another. He died on Jan. 20, 1928.
