Leonardo da Vinci had a genius that went far beyond just being a remarkable artist.
In his later years, Leonardo, in addition to anatomy, was particularly interested in botany, geometry, mathematics and geology. With the intention to imitate the flight of birds, Leonardo eagerly studied the movements of birds.
In his '' Codex on the Flight of Birds '', written in his typical mirrored style, he considers the aspects of air resistance and the impact of wind and air currents on which the birds glide and manoeuvre.
With his first flying machines, the inventor still tried to imitate the flight of the birds. These machines, called ornithopters, were modeled after the anatomy of birds and bats. A pair of enormous wings connected to a wooden frame are carefully sketched out in his notebooks.
A pilot could lie facedown and move the wings up and down setting a series of rods and pulleys in movement.
It's unclear how the machine would get off the ground, the materials were too heavy and a man flapping the wings was not strong enough to produce the lift necessary for it to fly.
Another flying machine invention with human power as the "engine" was "Arial Screw", designed from Leonardo as a devise capable of vertical flight. This was the first prototype of today's helicopter.
Perhaps all his designs would have worked but without an engine there was no way to privide it with enough power to lift off. The first flight with a power source other than muscle power finally succeeded the Wright brothers in 1903.
Even if his flying machines never worked, the safety of a flight pioneer must already have been in Leonardo's mind. Among his numerous projects is also the design of a parachute.
It's interesting that he choose a pyramidal design instead of round. One of his notebook entries, now contained in the '' Codex Atlanticus '', shows a pyramid-shaped parachute accompanied by the text you can jump down with this construction from any height, without injuring yourself.
The British parachutist Adrian Nicholas trusted Leonardo's genius in such a way that in 2000 he faithfully copied and tried out the parachute according to the inventor's instructions. And indeed, as promised by Leonardo, he certainly sank back to earth without being harmed.
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