Leonardo da Vinci’s screw-shaped flying device was called the aerial screw.
Leonardo drew the aerial screw around 1489 in the Codex Atlanticus. The design has a large helical surface wrapped around a central mast, resembling a giant screw. Leonardo reasoned that rotating the surface rapidly could make it rise through the air, much as a screw advances through wood.
The sketch is often described as an early helicopter concept, but it was not a practical helicopter. The drawing does not provide a workable engine, and the materials available in Renaissance Italy could not have supplied enough power for a full-size version. Modern reconstructions are demonstrations of the idea rather than proof that Leonardo’s machine could fly.
The aerial screw is different from Leonardo’s ornithopter, which imitated flapping bird wings. It is also different from his parachute, which was intended to slow a descent rather than produce powered lift.