Leonardo da Vinci designed a pyramidal parachute for descending safely from a height.
He sketched the device around 1485 in the Codex Atlanticus. His design used a rigid wooden frame covered with linen, forming a pyramid-like canopy. Leonardo wrote that a person could drop from a great height without injury if the structure were sufficiently wide and deep.
The sketch is a parachute concept, not evidence that Leonardo tested it. Centuries later, parachute pioneers developed flexible fabric canopies that were much lighter and easier to pack. In 2000, British skydiver Adrian Nichols tested a modern replica based on Leonardo’s dimensions and successfully descended, although he used a conventional parachute as a safety backup.
People sometimes call the design a flying machine, but its purpose was controlled descent rather than powered flight. It is also separate from Leonardo’s wing-flapping and rotating aerial-machine sketches.