Leonardo da Vinci sketched a glider, a fixed-wing aircraft intended to soar rather than flap its wings.
Leonardo's flight studies included fixed-wing designs based on the shape and control of bird wings. His glider concepts used a supporting frame and broad wings, with the pilot positioned to control balance and direction. Unlike an ornithopter, the machine did not depend on repeated mechanical wing beats for propulsion.
A glider can remain airborne only when its wings generate enough lift as it moves through the air. Leonardo lacked an engine capable of providing sustained thrust, so his designs would have needed a launch from a height, a slope, or a favorable wind. Some reconstructions and modern interpretations have explored whether particular sketches could have been controllable, but they do not prove that Leonardo achieved powered flight.
Leonardo's aerial screw is a separate design. It is often described as a helicopter-like concept, while a glider has fixed wings and depends on aerodynamic motion through the air.