Leonardo da Vinci sketched an ornithopter as a flying machine with flapping wings powered by a pilot.
The word ornithopter comes from Greek roots meaning “bird” and “wing.” Leonardo’s studies of birds led him to imagine a machine whose wings would move like those of a large bird. His surviving drawings show mechanical frameworks, wing surfaces, pedals, and hand-operated controls intended to transmit human muscle power to the wings.
Leonardo’s ornithopter was never built into a proven, human-carrying aircraft. Human muscles cannot generate enough sustained power for a practical flapping-wing machine of the size he envisioned. This is why the design is better understood as an engineering study than as a successful aircraft.
A common mix-up is calling every Leonardo flying-machine sketch a helicopter. His aerial screw used a helical rotor concept, while the ornithopter depended on flapping wings. Modern ornithopters do exist, but they generally use motors rather than direct human power.