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第一架現代飛機由英國人George Cayley爵士於1804年設計建造。第一個進行真正的風洞實驗，並於1884年測試一係列翼型的是英格蘭的Horatio Phillips，他與1891年申請了第一個翼型專利。
The British aerospace industry has made an important contribution to the history of the aircraft, and was solely or jointly responsible for the development and production of the first aircraft with an enclosed cabin (the Avro Type F), the first jet aircraft to enter service for the Allies in the Second World War (the Gloster Meteor),the first commercial jet airliner to enter service (the de Havilland Comet),the first aircraft capable of supercruise (the English Electric Lightning),the first supersonic commercial jet airliner to enter service (the Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde),the first fixed-wing V/STOL combat aircraft to enter service (the Hawker Siddeley Harrier),the first twin-engined widebody commercial jet airliner (the Airbus A300),the first fly-by-wire commercial aircraft (the Airbus A320) and the largest commercial aircraft to enter service to date (the Airbus A380).
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