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Leonardo da Vinci was a man who lived during the renaissance period in modern-day Italy. Nowadays dubbed as the “Renaissance Man”, he was one of the prominent figures of the renaissance and contributed greatly to the advancements of art and science. Although many recognize da Vinci for his artwork such as the Mona Lisa, he is also famous for his passion for various fields of science — one of them was aviation, the ability to fly.
Da Vinci was obsessed with aviation and longed the ability to fly. He would examine the birds’ and bats’ ability to fly and would sketch designs of machines that would allow him to fly. According to one source, it is noted that: “His obsession drove him to write a collection of manuscripts with over 500 sketches on the topic (Wright Stories).“ It is said that his early designs were inspired by the bats’ wings: “Da Vinci’s designs featured a pair of enormous wings connected to a wooden frame, inside of which an intrepid pilot could lie facedown and move the wings up and down by turning a crank that moved a series of rods and pulleys (Palermo).” However, he soon realized that this design wasn’t going to work, as there was no way to get off the ground. Palermo notes that “The machine had no engine, so it’s unclear how it would get off the ground. And even if da Vinci flew his machine off a high cliff, it’s unlikely that he would have returned to Earth in one piece.” Luckily, da Vinci never put this machine to the test and instead thought of other ideas for his flying machine.
His next design was a completely new design, as instead of wings to give the machine lift, he went with a design that resembled a screw. With this new design, da Vinci portrays his new understanding of physics and aerodynamics. Ridley states that: “Leonardo drew detailed sketches around 1481 for a water-lifting device, using an Archimedes screw. Perhaps noting the effect of the screw in moving fluids, and knowing that air itself behaved as a light fluid, in 1489 he presented what we may recognize today as a machine designed to perform like a helicopter”. Ridley also adds, “In his notes, he explains that the machine would operate as if it were a screw that penetrates the air, and so would cause lift when it rotated.” Although the invention of the renaissance version of the modern-day helicopter was fascinating, it was still not enough — without an engine, it was impossible to rotate the screw at a fast enough rate to give the machine lift.
After many sketches of various flying machines, da Vinci gradually changed his focus from flying machines to gliders. Cape states, that: “His early designs were man-powered and included ornithopters and rotorcraft; however he came to realize the impracticality of this and later turned to controlled gliding flight, also sketching some designs powered by a spring (Popham).” A glider may seem drastically simpler compared to his previous sketches for his flying machines: however, this was before Newton invented physics and therefore the third law of motion; where for every action, there is an equal and opposite action. In his notes, da Vinci stated the following: “An object offers as much resistance to the air as the air does to the object. You may see that the beating of its wings against the air supports a heavy eagle in the highest and rarest atmosphere, close to the sphere of elemental fire. Again you may see the air in motion over the sea, fill the swelling sails, and drive heavily laden ships. From these instances, and the reasons were given, a man with wings large enough and duly connected might learn to overcome the resistance of the air, and by conquering it, succeed in subjugating it and rising above it (Richter).” With the invention of a glider, da Vinci showed that he understood the third law of physics, roughly a century and a half before Newton did in 1686.
Leonardo da Vinci was one of the prominent figures of the Renaissance and was rightfully dubbed the “Renaissance Man” — by inventing new machines, da Vinci continuously sought more knowledge, and by doing so, brought advancements in both art and science. Although his aviation devices may not have worked during his time, many of his ideas became the blueprint and a precursor to the modern airplane.
Works Cited
Jean Paul Richter editor 1880, The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci Dover, 1970, ISBN 0-486-22572-0. Palermo, Elizabeth. “Flying Machines? 5 Da Vinci Designs That Were Ahead of Their Time.” LiveScience, Purch, 19 Dec. 2014, http://www.livescience.com/49210-leonardo-da-vinci-futuristic-inventions.html. Popham, A.E. (1947). The drawings of Leonardo da Vinci (2nd ed.). Jonathan Cape. Ridley, Jonathan, and Head of Engineering Warsash School of Maritime Science and Engineering. “Leonardo Da Vinci's Helicopter: 15th-Century Flight of Fancy Led to Modern Aeronautics.” The Conversation, 4 May 2019, theconversation.com/leonardo-da-vincis-helicopter-15th-century-flight-of-fancy-led-to-modern-aeronautics-116241. Stimson, Richard. “Da Vinci's Aerodynamics.” Wright Stories Wright Brothers Inventing The Airplane History of Flight Kitty Hawk Wright Contemporaries Military Airplane RSS, wrightstories.com/da-vincis-aerodynamics/.
