Leonardo da Vinci’s wing-flapping flying-machine design is called an ornithopter.
An ornithopter is an aircraft intended to fly by flapping wings, somewhat like a bird or bat. Leonardo studied bird flight and sketched several machines in which a human pilot would operate large wings through pedals, levers, or other mechanical connections.
Leonardo’s designs were theoretical rather than working aircraft. The main difficulty was that a human could not produce enough power to lift both the machine and its pilot by muscle-powered flapping alone. His notes nevertheless show careful observations of wing shape, balance, air resistance, and the movement of birds.
An ornithopter is not the same thing as a helicopter or an airplane. Modern ornithopters have been built, but Leonardo’s Renaissance drawings did not result in a practical flying vehicle. His work is remembered as an early attempt to apply mechanical engineering to human flight.