Leonardo da Vinci designed an ornithopter as a human-powered flying device with flapping wings.
Leonardo studied birds, bats, and the mechanics of flight extensively. His notebooks contain several ornithopter designs, including machines in which a person would use pedals, levers, or body movement to operate large wings. The word ornithopter comes from Greek roots meaning “bird” and “wing.”
Leonardo’s ornithopter was never successfully built and flown. Human muscles cannot generate enough sustained power to flap wings of the required size, so modern aircraft use propellers, jets, or gliding surfaces instead. The design is nevertheless important because it shows Leonardo analyzing lift, balance, and wing movement centuries before powered aviation.
An ornithopter is not the same as Leonardo’s aerial screw, which used rotating blades rather than flapping wings. It is also different from a glider, whose fixed wings generate lift without powered flapping.