Flying machine

Leonardo's interest in flight appeared during the years he spent in Florence when he was young, but it was after he moved to Milan, in 1482, that the subject began to assume special importance for him.

His observation of birds, albeit non-specialised, persuaded him that there was nothing mysterious about flight - in contrast with the ideas of scientists of the time - but was a purely mechanical phenomenon, due to the beating of the wing on the air.

The fact that air is compressible and therefore exerts a resistance capable of supporting a weight was one of Leonardo's fundamental insights, leading him to conclude that men, too, could fly : " ...that for these reasons you will be able to know the man with his large constructed wings, creating a force against air resistance and succeeding, will subdue it and rise above it".

One of the first applications of this observation was the famous parachute project of about 1485, consisting of a rigid pyramid-like structure, with a base of 7.2 meters and a height of 7.2 meters, covered with starched linen to make it impermeable and airtight.

There was another application of the principle of air resistance, the so-called "air screw", which can be seen as a prototype of the helicopter.

The parachute and "air screw" represent an isolated case in Leonardo's study of flight since most of the flying machines designed by Leonardo are equipped with wings, usually beating. It was on the wing - its form, structure and creation - that he concentrated to include collateral problems such as support instrumentation.

This included instruments for air navigation, e.g inclinometers, and a series of meteorological instruments such as hygroscope, anemoscope and anemometers.

Credit : HK Sciences Museum.