Leonardo da Vinci’s ornithopter concept used wings intended to flap like a bird’s.
Leonardo studied birds, bats, and the mechanics of flight in notebooks produced during the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. His ornithopter sketches show a human pilot operating wing mechanisms through pedals, levers, and cranks. The goal was to imitate biological flight by producing lift through repeated wing movement.
The concept was ambitious, but human muscle power is not sufficient to operate wings large enough to lift a person in the way Leonardo imagined. No evidence shows that one of his full-scale ornithopters flew successfully. His observations nevertheless contributed to the history of flight by emphasizing anatomy, airflow, weight, and balance.
An ornithopter differs from a glider, whose fixed wings generate lift while moving through air. It also differs from a helicopter, which uses rotating blades. Leonardo’s flying-machine studies included several approaches, but flapping wings define the ornithopter.