Leonardo da Vinci rightfully occupies one of the first places among inventors of all centuries and peoples. He was able to predict and predetermine the course of many inventions and thought in a way that was at odds with the then generally accepted norms and approaches. In this article you will learn what Leonardo da Vinci invented. We will try to give the entire list of Leonardo's inventions and reveal as much as possible the principles and essence of the operation of his mechanisms.

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• Inventions of Leonardo da Vinci - part 1

Leonardo da Vinci gained fame during his lifetime, but world fame and fame came to him centuries later, when his notes and recordings were found in the 19th century. His papers contained sketches and sketches of amazing inventions and mechanisms. He divided many of his works into special “codes”, and the total volume of his works is about 13 thousand pages. The main obstacle to the implementation of his ideas was the low technological and scientific level of the Middle Ages. In the 20th century, many of his inventions were repeated, if not in real size, then in the form of models and reduced copies, although there were often daredevils and enthusiasts who were ready to repeat everything exactly as described by the great inventor Leonardo da Vinci.

AIRCRAFTS

Leonardo da Vinci was almost obsessed with dreams of flying machines and the possibility of flight, because no machine is capable of causing the same reverent admiration and surprise as a machine capable of soaring in the air like a bird.

In his notes one could find the following thought: “watch a fish swim and you will learn the secret of flight.” Leonardo managed to make an intellectual breakthrough. He realized that water behaved like air, so he gained applied knowledge of how to create lift and showed an extraordinary understanding of the subject that amazes experts to this day.

One of the interesting concepts found in the work of the genius is a prototype of a helicopter or propeller-driven vertical aircraft.

Around the sketch there is also a description of the da Vinci propeller (helicon). The screw coating had to be thread-thick iron. The height should be approximately 5 meters, and the radius of the screw should be about 2 meters. The device had to be driven by the muscle power of four people.

In the video below, four enthusiastic engineers, a historian and a light airplane specialist tried to develop the idea of ​​​​Leonardo's helicopter and try to make it fly, although they were allowed to use a number of modern technologies and materials. As a result, it turned out that this design has a number of serious shortcomings, the main one of which was the lack of thrust necessary for flight, so enthusiasts went for significant modifications, but whether they succeeded or not, find out from the video.

Leonardo da Vinci's plane

The inventor did not sit with the idea of ​​a helicopter for long and decided to move on, trying to create a prototype of the aircraft. Here birds were the source of knowledge.

Below in the picture are drawings of the wings, as well as sketches of a hang glider, which, after construction in our time, turned out to be quite functional.

Although his invention cannot be fully called an airplane, it is best suited to be called a flywheel or ornithopter, that is, an aircraft lifted into the air due to the reaction of air with its planes (wings), to which the flapping motion is transmitted through muscular effort, like in birds

Leonardo carefully began to make calculations and he started with ducks. He measured the length of the duck's wing, after which it turned out that the length of the wing was equal to the square root of its weight. Based on these premises, Leonardo decided that in order to lift his flywheel with a person on board into the air (which reached about 136 kilograms), it would be necessary to create bird-like wings 12 meters long.

Interesting fact about hang gliding. In the game Assasin's Creed 2, the main character uses Da Vinci's flying machine (hang glider) to fly from one end of the city of Venice to the other.

And if you are a fan of Bruce Willis' films, you may remember that in the movie "Hudson Hawk" a hang glider and da Vinci's parachute are mentioned. And the main character even flew on a da Vinci hang glider.

Leonardo da Vinci's parachute

Of course, Leonardo did not invent his parachute in order to escape in the event of an aircraft crash; it was also an aircraft that would allow a smooth descent from a great height. Below is a sketch of the parachute, its calculations and design.

The inventor's parachute has the shape of a pyramid covered with thick fabric. The base of the pyramid was about 7 meters 20 cm long.

Interestingly, it was in Russia that the inventor Kotelnikov would perfect the da Vinci parachute, making the first backpack parachute in history that could be attached to the pilot’s back and used during ejection.

In 2000, parachutist from England Andrian Nicholas decided to test Leonardo’s invention in the form in which he invented it, replacing only the material in it, realizing that flax would not withstand such a load. The first attempt was a failure, so he had to use a reserve parachute. True, in 2008 the Swiss Olivier Tepp managed to achieve success. He abandoned the rigid structure of the parachute and jumped from a height of 650 meters. The naturalist claims that the descent itself turned out to be safe, but it is impossible to control such a parachute.

INVENTIONS FROM THE FIELD OF ARCHITECTURE AND CONSTRUCTION

Leonardo also achieved impressive knowledge in the field of architecture and construction. He studied the strength and resistance of materials, discovered a number of fundamental principles, and was able to understand how best to move various objects.

Leonardo studied the force required to lift bodies of varying masses. To lift a heavy object up an inclined plane, the idea of ​​using a system of screws, winches and capstans was considered.

Crane for lifting long objects

The base of the beam or pole rests on a special platform with a pair of wheels, which is pulled up by a horizontal rope from below. The force that must be applied to pull up the horizontal rope always remains constant, and the column moves in a straight line.

Leonardo invented a system of wheels and hammers for lifting loads. The operation of the system is similar to the work of hammer blows during coining, only this all happens on a special gear wheel. Three hammers with a special wedge inserted between the pins hit the wheel, rotating it and the drum where the load is attached.

Mobile crane and screw lift

A tall crane is shown in the sketch on the right. As you might guess, it was intended for the construction of tall buildings and structures (towers, domes, bell towers, and so on). The crane was placed on a special trolley, which moved along a guide rope that stretched above the crane.

The screw lift is shown in the sketch on the left and was intended for installing columns and lifting other heavy objects. The design consists of a huge screw, which is driven by the force of four people. It is clear that in this case the height and general design of such a lift limits the possibilities of its use.

Sketch of a trolley crane and a screw lift

Ring platform crane

This crane is very similar to modern cranes in its functionality and was used by builders at the end of the 14th century. This lift allows you to move heavy objects around you. For its operation it was necessary to use two workers. The first was on the lower platform and used a drum to lift heavy objects, and the second worker was on the upper platform and used a steering wheel to rotate the lift around its axis. The crane also had wheels that allowed it to be moved. Such cranes were used during Leonardo's time to install pillars and columns, build high walls, church domes, house roofs and more. Since the cars were wooden, they were usually burned after use.

Leonardo da Vinci excavators

Today, hardly anyone can be surprised by an excavator, but few people think about how they were invented. There is a point of view that prototypes of excavators were used back in Ancient Egypt during the construction of canals and dredging of river beds, but the truly conceptual model of the excavator was, of course, invented by the great Leonardo da Vinci.

Excavators of the Renaissance, of course, were not particularly automatic and required the manual labor of workers, but they greatly facilitated it, because now it was easier for workers to move the excavated soil. Sketches of excavators give us an idea of ​​how huge the machines were at that time. The excavator used the principle of monorail movement, that is, it moved along one rail, while covering the entire width of the canal, and the booms of its cranes could rotate 180°.

Fortress tower and double spiral staircase

In the picture you can see a sketch of part of the fortress. To the left of the fortress tower there is a sketch of a spiral staircase, which is an important component of the tower. The design of the staircase is similar to the well-known Archimedes screw. If you look closely at the staircase, you will notice that it is double and its parts do not intersect, that is, you and your friend can go up or down different spirals of the staircase and not know about each other. This way you can go down one side and go up the other. without interfering with each other. This is an extremely useful property during the hustle and bustle of war. Each part, accordingly, has its own entrance and exit. The sketch doesn't have steps added, but the actual staircase has them.

The staircase, invented by Leonardo, was built after his death in 1519 in France inside the Chateau de Chambord, which served as a royal residence. There are 77 staircases in Chambord, some spiral ones, but only the double spiral staircase, made according to da Vinci's sketches, has become an interesting attraction.

A labyrinthine building with many staircases, entrances and exits

Leonardo also thought about more sophisticated architectural concepts using stairs. In this case, it’s a real labyrinth! This structure has 4 entrances and 4 staircases, which spiral in a spiral one above the other, wrapping around a central column in the form of a square pillar. Leonardo was excellent at finding harmonious structures, combining the geometric features of space, lines, shapes and materials, ultimately creating holistic, self-sufficient the buildings.

Sliding (swing) bridge

Sketch of a swing bridge by Leonardo da Vinci

Another bridge, which, unfortunately, remained only a project, is a bridge capable of passing ships sailing along the river. Its main difference from modern bridges that operate on the opening principle is the ability to rotate like a door. This effect is achieved through a system of capstans, hinges, winches and counterweights, where one end of the bridge is fixed to a special rotating mechanism, and the other end is slightly raised for rotation.

Self-supporting (“mobile”) bridge

This bridge is the answer to the question: “how can you quickly build a full-fledged crossing using improvised means?” Moreover, the answer is extremely beautiful and original.

Sketch of a self-supporting bridge by Leonardo da Vinci

This bridge forms an arch, that is, it is arched, and the assembly itself does not require either nails or ropes. The load distribution in the bridge structure occurs due to the mutual expansion and pressure of the elements on each other. You can assemble such a bridge in any place where trees grow, and they grow almost everywhere.

The purpose of the bridge was military and was necessary for the mobile and secret movement of troops. Leonardo imagined that such a bridge could be built by a small group of soldiers using trees growing nearby. Leonardo himself called his bridge “Reliability”.

Suspension bridge

This type of bridge was another example of a mobile prefabricated bridge that soldiers could assemble using ropes and winches. Such a bridge was quickly assembled and dismantled after itself during the advances and retreats of troops.

As in many of Leonardo da Vinci's designs, the principles of tension, statics and resistance of materials are used here. The structure of this bridge is similar to that of suspension bridges, where the main load-bearing elements are also made of winches and ropes and do not require additional supports.

This bridge, created 500 years ago, could serve as a good military device during the Second World War. Later, engineers of subsequent centuries came to the conclusion that this type of bridge design was optimal, and the principles used in the suspension bridge are also used in many modern bridges.

Bridge for the Turkish Sultan

In 1502-1503, Sultan Bayezid II began to look for projects to build a bridge across the Golden Horn Bay. Leonardo proposed an interesting bridge project to the Sultan, which involved building a bridge 240 meters long and 24 meters wide, which at that time looked like something grandiose. It is also interesting to note that another project was proposed by Michelangelo. True, none of the projects managed to be implemented in practice.

500 years have passed and Norway has become interested in the concept of the bridge. In 2001, near Oslo in the small town of As, a smaller copy of the Da Vinci Bridge was built. Architects and builders tried not to deviate from the master’s drawings, but in some places they used modern materials and technologies.

City of the future by Leonardo da Vinci

In 1484-1485, a plague broke out in Milan, from which about 50 thousand people died. Leonardo da Vinci suggested that the cause of the plague was unsanitary conditions, dirt and overpopulation, so he proposed to Duke Ludovico Sforza to build a new city, devoid of all these problems. Leonardo's project would now remind us of various attempts by science fiction writers to depict a utopian city in which there are no problems, where technology is the solution to everything.

Sketches of the streets of Leonardo da Vinci's ideal city of the future

According to the plan of the great genius, the city consisted of 10 districts, where 30,000 people were supposed to live, with each district and house in it provided with an individual water supply, and the width of the streets had to be at least equal to the average height of a horse (much later, the Council of State of London reported that these data the proportions are ideal and all streets in London should be brought in accordance with them). Moreover, the city was multi-tiered. The tiers were connected through stairs and passages. The uppermost tier was occupied by influential and wealthy representatives of society, and the lower tier of the city was reserved for merchants and the provision of various types of services.

The city could become the greatest achievement of architectural thought of its time and could realize many of the technical achievements of the great inventor. You shouldn’t really think that the city was all mechanisms; first of all, Leonardo emphasized convenience, practicality and hygiene. The squares and streets were designed to be extremely spacious, which did not correspond to medieval ideas of the time.

An important point was the system of water canals connecting the entire city. Through a complex hydraulic system, water came to every city building. Da Vinci believed that this would help eliminate an unsanitary lifestyle and reduce the occurrence of plague and other diseases to a minimum.

Ludovico Sforza considered this project adventurous and refused to implement it. Towards the very end of his life, Leonardo tried to present this project to the King of France, Francis I, but the project, unfortunately, did not interest anyone and remained unrealized.

WATER MECHANISMS AND DEVICES

Leonardo created many sketches dedicated to water devices, water manipulation devices, various water pipes and fountains, as well as irrigation machines. Leonardo loved water so much that he did everything that came into contact with water in any way.

Improved Archimedes screw

The ancient Greeks, represented by Archimedes, long ago invented a device that made it possible to raise water using mechanics rather than manual labor. This mechanism was invented around 287-222 BC. Leonardo da Vinci improved the Archimedes mechanism. He carefully considered the various relationships between the angle of the axle and the required number of spirals to select the optimal parameters. Thanks to improvements, the propeller mechanism began to deliver a larger volume of water with fewer losses.

In the sketch the screw is shown on the left. It is a tightly wrapped tube. Water rises through the tube and flows from a special bathroom to the top. By rotating the handle, water will flow in a continuous stream.

The Archimedes screw is still used to irrigate farmland, and the principles of the screw form the basis of many industrial pumping stations and pumps.

Water wheel

Leonardo tried to find the most optimal way to use the power and energy of water using various systems of wheels. He studied hydrodynamics and eventually invented the water wheel, which is shown in the sketch below. Special bowls were made in the wheel, which scooped water from the lower container and poured it into the upper one.

This wheel was used to clean canals and dredge the bottom. Located on a raft and having four blades, the water wheel was driven by hand and collected silt. The silt was placed on a raft, which was secured between two boats. The wheel also moved along a vertical axis, which made it possible to adjust the scooping depth of the wheel.

Water wheel with buckets

Leonardo proposed an interesting way to deliver water in a city. For this, a system of buckets and chains on which the buckets were attached was used. The interesting thing is that the mechanism did not require a person to operate, since all the work was done by the river through a water wheel.

Gate for sluice

The inventor improved the sluice gate system. The amount of water could now be controlled to equalize the pressure on both sides of the sluice gates, making them easier to operate. To do this, Leonardo made a small gate with a bolt in the large gate.

Leonardo also invented a canal with a lock system that allowed ships to continue navigation even on slopes. The gate system made it possible to control the water level so that ships could pass through the water without difficulty.

Breathing apparatus underwater

Leonardo loved water so much that he came up with instructions for diving under water, developed and described a diving suit.

Divers, according to Leonardo’s logic, should have participated in anchoring the ship. Divers in such a suit could breathe using the air found in the underwater bell. The suits also had glass masks that allowed them to see underwater. The suit also had an improved breathing tube, which was used by divers in more ancient times. The hose is made of reed, and the joints are sealed with waterproof material. The hose itself has a spring insert, which allows the hose to increase its strength (after all, there is a lot of water pressure at the bottom), and also makes it more flexible.

In 2002, professional diver Jacques Cozens conducted an experiment and made a diver's suit according to Leonardo's drawings, making it from pigskin and with bamboo tubes, as well as an air dome. Experience showed that the design was not ideal and the experiment was only partially successful.

Invention of flippers

The webbed glove that Leonardo invented would now be called flippers. It allowed one to stay afloat and increased the distance a person could swim in the sea.

Five long wooden sticks continued the structure of the human skeleton along the phalanges of the fingers and were connected to each other by membranes, like those of waterfowl. Modern fins are based on exactly the same principle.

Invention of water skiing

The inventor tried to solve the problem of soldiers crossing long shallow waters and came to the conclusion that it was possible to use a skin previously filled with air (skin bags), attaching this skin to the legs of people.

If the volume of the bag is sufficient, it will be able to support the weight of a person. Leonardo also intended to use a wooden beam, which had increased buoyancy. Soldiers must take two special processions into their hands. to control your balance and move forward.

Leonardo's idea turned out to be unsuccessful, but a similar principle formed the basis of water skiing.

Lifebuoy

If you translate the inscription located at the bottom of the picture, you can read “How to save lives in the event of a storm or shipwreck.” This simple invention is nothing more than a lifebuoy that allows a person to stay above the water level and not drown. It was assumed that the circle would be made of light oak bark, which could be found everywhere in the Mediterranean.

wheeled boat

In the Middle Ages, seas and rivers remained convenient and optimal transport routes. Milan or Florence were vitally dependent on maritime traffic and the availability of fast and safe water transportation.

Leonardo sketched a boat with a paddle wheel. The four blades are similar in shape to the fins of waterfowl. The man turned the pedals with both feet, thereby rotating the wheel. The principle of reciprocating motion caused the wheel to spin counterclockwise, so the boat began to move forward.

Leonardo boat model

In the video below you can see in more detail the structure of a boat with wheels:

, .
In the 15th century, the thought of flight haunted many engineers. But it was Leonardo who became the first to study the theory of flight.
Initially, da Vinci worked to create an aircraft based on the principle of flapping wing movements. He analyzed the flight characteristics of birds and bats and also studied the anatomy of their wings. He believed that a person could learn to fly if he designed and then operated a device that imitated the flapping flight of birds.
Some of his drawings depict a man lying face down, about to take off using mechanisms attached to the wings. Other drawings show more complex fastening systems. There are also drawings of a man with flapping wings, positioned vertically, and pressing the pedals of the apparatus with his hands and feet.
However, later da Vinci comes to the conclusion that a person simply does not have enough muscular strength in the torso and arms to rise into the air like a bird. As a result, he begins to explore the possibility of flight without flapping movements, delving into the study of wind speed and how to use air currents for flight.
His ideas, embodied in the form of drawings and sketches, largely anticipated the appearance of modern hang gliders, airplanes, helicopters and parachutes. The result of his tireless research was a collection containing 36 pages of drawings of bird flight and notes in which da Vinci argued that human flight was possible.
Leonardo's achievements in the field of aerodynamics can be viewed

Wing study (studio d'ala unita, wing study). Leonardo's many studies of wings. This wing pattern is based on the shape of a bat wing. This structure had to be made of wood and completely covered with canvas. This model may have been a prop in da Vinci's theatrical productions during his work at the royal court of Milan.

Wax hygrometer (igrometro a cera, wax hydrometer). This device measured the level of atmospheric humidity. It was a simple structure with scales. On one side was a water-absorbing material like cotton wool, on the other side a non-absorbent substance such as wax. When the air is dry, the plumb line remained vertical. When cotton wool absorbed moisture from the air, it became heavier than wax. The more the cotton wool outweighed the wax, the higher the degree of air humidity. Leonardo noted that this device helped “to find out the quality and density of air and predict rain.” Today this principle is used in weather boxes and other hygrometers based on absorbent material such as cat hair or human hair.

Anemoscope (anemoscopio, anemoscope). In the process of studying flight, Leonardo, among other works, created a drawing of an anemoscope, a device for determining the direction of the wind. The device looks exactly like a weather vane, often installed on the roofs of modern houses.

A device for measuring wind and water speed (studio per condotti conici, speed gauge for wind or water). Leonardo asked the question: “If the intensity of wind and water remains the same, can increasing their intensity five times lead to a fivefold increase in energy?” This experimental device consisted of cone-shaped tubes with a hole at the top through which wind and water were released.

Anemometer (anemometro, anemometer). This device was used to measure the force of wind. The vertical plate moved as an indicator of the direction of the wind, and by the degree of its deviation from the vertical position one could judge the intensity of the wind.

Flapping wing (studio d'ala batiente, flapping wing). This drawing was an experiment by Leonardo in which he tried to determine the lift of a flapping wing. The reed structure, covered with paper and consisting of a 12-meter wing and mesh, had to be attached to a wooden beam weighing as much as a person. If the lever was quickly pulled down, the wing would rise into the air along with the beam. If this idea worked, two wings would be able to lift the aircraft along with the pilot and keep them in the air.
In his notebook Leonardo wrote:
"... make sure that the jerk is as sharp as possible,
and if the desired result is not achieved,
Don't waste any more time on this."

Aircraft (macchina volante, flying machine). One of Leonardo's most famous drawings dedicated to human flight. A person, attached to the structure by straps, had to lie face down and pedal, raising and lowering the wings using ropes and levers. To change the direction of flight it was necessary to pull levers. The movement of the device imitated the flight of birds, since the wings of the mechanism bent and straightened during the flight.

Hang glider (deltaplano, hang-glider). Leonardo's early aircraft were based on the principle of imitating the flapping movements of bird wings. The mechanism of such devices used blocks and levers that moved the wings up and down. Later, Leonardo began to design devices that could fly using air currents and wind power. In such devices, a person could shift the center of gravity simply by changing the position of the upper part of his body. According to the drawing in this glider, the person was located at points "m", "d" and "a". The movement of the glider in flight was controlled using ropes. In 2002, a copy of this device was constructed in England based on Leonardo's drawings. And although the device was unstable in flight, it was nevertheless able to fly successfully after a tail was added to da Vinci’s design.

Air screw (vite aerea, aerial screw). In the Middle Ages, children played with a top, the blades of which rotated around an axis made of thread and lifted the top up. Apparently Leonardo borrowed this idea for his concept of a propeller rising into the air. Four people, standing on a central platform at the base of the apparatus, had to move around the axis and push the levers. As the linen-covered screws untwisted, thrust was generated, allowing the apparatus to rise into the air. Most likely, such a device would never be able to get off the ground and, nevertheless, it can rightfully be considered the prototype of a modern helicopter.

Vertical flying machine (ornitottero verticale, vertical flying machine). The picture shows a man standing in the very center of a huge apparatus. With the help of his arms, legs and even his head, he had to control the sliding mechanisms in order to rise into the air. Leonardo used every part of the human body in order to maximize the source of energy. The height of the device was 12 meters, the wingspan was 24 meters, and the structure was also equipped with a retractable ladder with a shock absorber 12 meters long. Leonardo believed that the design should consist of two pairs of wings, flapping diagonally (crosswise), like the gait of a horse.

Saturday, 6 April 2013 0:03

The ancient Greek myth of Icarus most plausibly describes an attempt to conquer the sky with the help of specially constructed wings. To leave the island of Crete, the brilliant master Daedalus made wings for himself and his son Icarus, fastening them with wax. He warned his son not to fly too high when flying with them, because the hot rays of the sun could melt the wax that holds the wings together. However, Icarus, carried away by the flight, forgot about his father’s instructions. He began to rise higher and higher and found himself too close to the Sun. The hot rays of the sun melted the wax, Icarus fell into the sea and drowned near the island of Samos. His body, washed to the shore by the waves, was buried on the small island of Doli-kha, which was named Ikaria after Icarus, and the sea in this part was called the Icarian Sea.

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) - a brilliant Italian artist, sculptor, scientist, inventor, just like Icarus, dreamed of flight. Many of his ideas and inventions were significantly ahead of the time in which he lived. Dreaming of flying into the sky, Leonardo da Vinci studied the flight and gliding of birds, the structure of their wings, so his first project was a device with moving wings, which was called an ornithopter, or bird plane. One of the test models of this aircraft had wings like those of a bat.

To control the ornithopter, a person in a recumbent position was put on a special suit, consisting of a tail feathers and a hoop on the head connected to the tail section. Flapping the wings required moving the arms and legs, and adjusting the flight altitude required raising and lowering the head, thereby raising and lowering the tail of the ornithopter.

Another version of the ornithopter proposed by the great Leonardo was a device in the form of a bicycle. Rotating the wheels with pedals, the man flapped his wings through levers.

In addition, Leonardo da Vinci drew and described a large aircraft with two pairs of flapping wings. In this device, two pairs of wings moved in turn. During the flight, a person had to stand inside a huge bowl with a diameter of 12 m. The wingspan was about 16 m, and the height of the structure had to be at least 10 m. To control the device, as in the previous version, movements of the arms, legs and even the head were used pilot. The flapping of the wings was supposed to repeat the movements of the bird's wings. It is very interesting that the device had a retractable landing gear.

At the end of the 15th century, the inventor made a drawing of another ornithopter with wings consisting of two articulated parts. It was assumed that the flapping would be carried out by the outer parts, the area of ​​which was about half the total area of ​​the wings. This idea found practical implementation in the last decade of the 19th century in the experiments of O. Lilienthal. The famous German aviation pioneer O. Lilienthal developed a glider in which the movable ends of the wings were driven by an engine mounted on the glider. The great genius at one time came very close to the invention of the airplane - an aircraft with a fixed wing.

Gorbert James Draper. Lament for Icarus

Along with the inventions described, Leonardo da Vinci built another unique aircraft - a “propeller” with a radius of 4.8 m. It was supposed to fly by screwing into the air. This vertically flying vehicle is considered the predecessor of the helicopter.

A sketch of a structure that can be called a “parachute” was found in Leonardo’s manuscripts. It consists of a cloth cap mounted on wooden slats extending from the corners of a square wooden frame. A person was placed on hanging ropes attached to the corners of the frame.

“Look at the wings, which, striking the air, support the heavy eagle in the thinnest heights of the air, near the element of fire, and look at the air moving over the sea, which, striking the inflated sails, makes the loaded heavy ship run; on these fairly weighty and reliable grounds you will be able to comprehend how a person, overcoming the resistance of the surrounding air with his artificial large wings, is able to rise up in it."

-- C.A. 381 v.a., from the writings of Leonardo da Vinci, on flying.

Leonardo da Vinci was born in the middle of the 15th century. He was a shining example of a “universal man.” During his life he excelled in painting, sculpture, music, mathematics, anatomy, science, technology and architecture. He was the author of many inventions and projects.

Leonardo da Vinci was convinced that “a man who overcomes air resistance with the help of large artificial wings can rise into the air.” Confident that he was right, Leonardo came up with a device that would allow a person to soar in the air like a bird, flapping large mechanical wings driven only by muscle power.

To design the wings of an ornithopter, Leonardo studied in detail the anatomy of a bird's wing. Watching the flight of a bird, the scientist noticed that it always flaps its wings in different ways: hovering in the air, flying from place to place, or landing. A thorough study of the mechanism of bird flight prompted Leonardo da Vinci to the correct idea that the main thrust is created by the end parts of the wing.

Leonardo da Vinci worked out to the smallest detail several projects (1485-1497) of various types of ornithopters: with a recumbent pilot, an ornithopter-boat, with a vertical pilot, etc. When developing these aircraft, the ancient scientist put forward a number of remarkable design ideas that are now used in modern aircraft construction: a boat-shaped fuselage, a rotating tail unit, and retractable landing gear.

Wanting to increase the power of wing flapping, Leonardo da Vinci believed that, along with the strength of the arms, it was necessary to use the strength of the human legs. His developments also included a project for an ornithopter, which used a drawn bow as its energy source.

Interestingly, the idea of ​​creating ornithoptera Leonard da Vinci was given an ordinary... dragonfly.

Small assembly instructions:

(I did the translation from Czech, which I’m not good at, myself. There may be inaccuracies, so be guided as you go)

The ornithopter model is easy to assemble, but requires care and concentration.

All parts of the model must be carefully cut out. Besides scissors And glue, to form already glued parts, you may need: tweezers, blunt knife, pencil, tape.

Reinforce (glue) the parts marked in red with cardboard for strength.

The places where the spacers need to be glued to the wings are indicated by black dots.

The numbers indicated in the circles will serve as a sequence for your work, i.e. The wing parts with numbers 1 and 2 are assembled first, then parts 3 and 4 follow, and so on. After drying, some parts, in particular the wing, need to be slightly rounded (for example, on the edge of a table).

When joining parts, color imperfections can be eliminated with watercolors, painting the joints in the appropriate tone.

The finished ornithopter model can be hung on a thread or placed on a table with a stand - decide for yourself.

If you decide to hang it, pierce two holes on the wings with a sharp needle, place the third mount in the rear (tail) part of the ornithopter. These places are indicated by blue lines, see figure.

In order for the aircraft to stand on the table, it is necessary to assemble a stand in the form of a cylinder - parts 28-30. Along the contour of the lower part 29, lay and secure with tape a piece of wire (for example, a paper clip). In order for the model to stand confidently, the stand must be weighted; to do this, place a weight - a large nut - on the bottom of the stand.

At the end of the work, do not forget to attach the label “Ornitoptéra” to the stand Leonardo da Vinci” parts 31-32.

People have dreamed of rising into the air and soaring there like birds since ancient times. Observations of birds suggested that humans need wings to fly. The ancient Greek myth of Icarus and Daedalus tells how the first homemade aircraft was constructed - wings made of feathers held together with wax. Following the mythical heroes, many daredevils developed their own wing designs. But their dreams of rising into the sky did not come true; it ended in disaster.

The next step in the attempt to invent a working aircraft was the use of movable wings. They were set in motion by the power of their legs or arms, but they only clapped and were not capable of lifting the entire structure into the sky.

Leonardo da Vinci did not stand aside either. Leonardo's development of aircraft with movable wings driven by the power of human muscles is known. The first aircraft, which was designed by the brilliant Italian scientist and inventor, is considered a prototype of a helicopter. Leonardo drew a diagram of a device equipped with a huge propeller made of starch-impregnated linen material with a diameter of 5 meters.

According to the designer's plan, four men had to rotate special levers in a circle. Modern scientists say that in order to set this structure in motion, the muscle strength of four people was not enough. But if Leonardo da Vinci had used a powerful spring as a trigger, his aircraft could have made a short but real flight. Da Vinci did not stop developing designs for flights; he designed devices that could hover with help, and in the 1480s he drew a drawing of a device “for jumping from any height without harm to a person.” The device shown in the picture differs little from a modern parachute.

No matter how surprising it may sound, the first aircraft that took to the skies was devoid of wings. At the end of the eighteenth century, the Montgolfier brothers, the Frenchmen Jacques Etienne and Joseph Michel, invented the bulky hot air balloon. This aircraft, filled with warm air, could lift cargo or people. The compatriot of the inventors, Jean-François Pilatre de Rozier, took to the sky in a hot air balloon. And a month later he made his first free flight in a balloon in company with the Marquis d'Arland. This happened in 1783.

Moved by the will of the wind, people started thinking about controlled flights. In 1784, just a year after the first balloon flight, mathematician, inventor and military engineer Jacques Meunier presented a design for an airship (the word means “controllable” in French). He came up with an elongated, streamlined shape for airships, a method for attaching a gondola to a balloon, and a ballonet inside the shell to make up for gas leaks. And most importantly, Meunier’s aircraft was equipped with a propeller, which, when rotating, was supposed to push the structure forward.

But it was not possible to realize the brilliant idea of ​​Jacques Meunier in those days; a suitable propeller had not yet been invented.

In any case, it was thanks to the developments of scientists of past centuries and their homemade aircraft that the development and emergence of fast, spacious and reliable aircraft became possible.