Leonardo da Vinci’s 1480s vertical-flight design is called the aerial screw.
Leonardo drew the device in the Codex Atlanticus. Its large helical surface was intended to rotate and screw upward through the air, broadly resembling the principle of a modern helicopter rotor. The drawing is usually dated to around 1485, although the exact date is uncertain.
The aerial screw was a conceptual machine, not a documented working aircraft. Its proposed structure and materials would not have provided enough power or rigidity for human flight. It is therefore best described as an early study of vertical flight rather than the first helicopter.
The design is often confused with Leonardo’s ornithopter, which used flapping wings, and with his parachute, which was intended to slow a descent. The aerial screw’s distinctive feature is its rotating helical form.