Leonardo da Vinci’s aerial screw is commonly described as an early helicopter concept.
Leonardo sketched the design around 1489. It featured a large, helical rotor made from reeds, linen, and wire, intended to rotate and push against the air like a screw moving through water. The drawing is found in the Codex Atlanticus.
The machine was not a working helicopter. Leonardo did not provide a practical engine or a proven method for producing enough power, and the materials and construction shown would not have supported sustained flight. Modern helicopters rely on powered rotor blades and aerodynamic lift rather than the exact mechanism in Leonardo’s sketch.
The aerial screw is often confused with Leonardo’s ornithopter, which used flapping wings. Both belong to his studies of human flight, but the aerial screw uses rotary motion while the ornithopter imitates birds.