Leonardo da Vinci’s aerial screw is often described as an early helicopter concept because it used a rotating spiral surface intended to rise through the air.
Leonardo drew the design around 1489 in a manuscript now associated with the Codex Atlanticus. The machine featured a large helical rotor made from reeds, linen, and wire. His notes suggested that if the screw rotated rapidly enough, its spiral surface would push against the air and lift the structure.
The aerial screw was never built by Leonardo and could not have flown as drawn with the available materials and human power. Modern helicopters use powered rotors with carefully shaped blades, not a continuous screw-shaped surface. The design is therefore best understood as a conceptual study rather than a working aircraft.
Leonardo’s drawing belongs to a wider group of Renaissance investigations into flight, including wings, gliders, and parachute-like devices. Its importance lies in recognizing vertical lift as a separate engineering problem from ordinary wing-borne flight.