Leonardo da Vinci designed an ornithopter as a flapping-wing flying machine inspired by birds.
The word ornithopter comes from Greek roots meaning “bird wing.” Unlike a glider, which relies on fixed wings, an ornithopter attempts to generate lift through repeated wing movements. Leonardo filled notebooks with observations of birds, bats, and the mechanics of flight, then applied those observations to human-made machines.
His designs included large wings operated by a person’s arms and legs through a system of levers, pedals, and pulleys. The proposed mechanism was far too heavy and weakly powered for a human pilot to fly successfully, but it showed Leonardo’s interest in anatomy, motion, and aerodynamics.
An ornithopter is not the same as Leonardo’s aerial screw, which used a rotating helical surface rather than flapping wings. Modern ornithopters can fly as small remote-controlled models, but Leonardo’s Renaissance design remained a concept rather than a working aircraft.