What Leonardo da Vinci machine is designed to fly by flapping wings powered by a human pilot?

Leonardo da Vinci designed a human-powered ornithopter to fly by flapping wings operated by a pilot.

Leonardo’s flying-machine studies included mechanisms intended to transfer the pilot’s movement to large wings. The pilot would lie or stand within a framework and operate pedals, handles, or other controls. The design reflects Leonardo’s detailed observations of birds, bats, and the mechanics of wing movement.

The major obstacle was power. A human could not generate enough continuous energy to lift the complete machine and maintain flapping flight. Leonardo’s drawings therefore represent important aerodynamic thinking, but they do not prove that he achieved human flight.

This machine differs from the aerial screw, another famous Leonardo design. The ornithopter imitates flapping biological wings; the aerial screw proposes lift from a rotating spiral surface. Both remained experimental concepts rather than practical aircraft.