Leonardo da Vinci’s flapping-wing flying machine is an ornithopter.
An ornithopter is an aircraft designed to fly by moving its wings up and down, mimicking the flight of birds, bats, or insects. Leonardo studied bird anatomy and wing movement extensively while developing several flying-machine concepts.
His sketches show a human pilot lying or standing inside a framework and operating wings through levers and pedals. The proposed machines depended on human muscle power, but a person cannot produce enough sustained power to lift such a device.
Leonardo’s ornithopter was therefore a pioneering concept rather than a successful aircraft. His observations nevertheless contributed to the history of aviation by treating flight as a mechanical and aerodynamic problem.