What Leonardo da Vinci invention used hinged wings to imitate a bird’s flight?

Leonardo da Vinci’s ornithopter used hinged wings to imitate a bird’s flight. His studies of flying machines included several designs in which a human pilot would move wings through mechanical linkages.

The word ornithopter means a flying machine that gains lift through flapping wings. Leonardo closely observed birds and bats, then translated their motion into frameworks of wood, fabric, joints, and levers. Some designs placed the pilot in a prone position, with the arms and legs connected to the wing mechanism.

Leonardo understood that weight, balance, and airflow were central problems. However, human muscles cannot supply enough sustained power to lift a practical aircraft through repeated flapping, especially with the materials available in Renaissance Europe. His ornithopters therefore remained speculative designs rather than successful aircraft.

An ornithopter is different from Leonardo’s aerial screw, which sought vertical lift through a rotating helical surface. It is also different from a glider, which uses fixed wings and forward motion rather than flapping wings. Leonardo’s bird studies helped make flight an engineering subject, even though his machines did not fly.