Leonardo da Vinci designed an aerial screw with a helical surface around a vertical shaft.
The concept used a spiral structure that Leonardo believed could rise if rotated rapidly enough. His sketch, generally dated to the late 15th century, is one of his best-known studies of vertical flight and is often described as a precursor to the helicopter.
The machine’s proposed lifting surface was much larger than a practical modern rotor blade, and the drawing does not provide a complete power system. Human muscle power would not have been sufficient to lift the full structure, so the design remained speculative.
The answer is different from an Archimedes screw, which moves water or other materials through a helical channel. Leonardo’s aerial screw was intended to move upward through air. It is also distinct from his flapping-wing studies, which sought flight through repeated wing motion rather than a rotating screw.