Leonardo da Vinci’s ornithopter aimed to let a human fly by flapping mechanical wings.
Leonardo studied birds extensively and produced several flying-machine sketches during the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. His ornithopter concepts used large wings connected to levers, pedals, or other mechanisms so that a pilot could imitate the wingbeat of a bird.
The designs were important because they treated flight as an engineering problem involving lift, weight, balance, and propulsion. However, a human pilot could not generate enough power with the proposed muscle-driven mechanisms, and the machines lacked the lightweight engines later required for sustained flight.
An ornithopter is not the same as an airplane or helicopter. An airplane uses fixed wings and forward motion, while a helicopter uses rotating blades. An ornithopter produces lift through flapping wings. Leonardo’s studies helped advance the understanding of flight, but none of his known flying machines achieved powered human flight.