Leonardo da Vinci envisioned an aerial screw that would use a large rotating screw to lift itself through the air.
His drawing, usually dated to around 1489, shows a helical structure supported by a frame. Leonardo reasoned that if a screw-shaped surface were turned rapidly, it might “screw” upward through the air in the same way a threaded screw moves through a solid material.
The aerial screw was not a working helicopter. Leonardo did not have a lightweight engine capable of producing the necessary power, and the proposed materials and human propulsion would not have been sufficient for sustained flight. The drawing is nevertheless frequently discussed as an early conceptual ancestor of vertical-lift aircraft.
Modern helicopters generate lift with powered rotor blades rather than a continuous fabric-covered screw. Their success depends on engines, aerodynamics, rotor control, and lightweight structures. Leonardo’s sketch captured the broad idea of vertical ascent but not the technical solution used by helicopters.