The Leocopter

Found in one of Da Vinci’s notebooks was a detailed drawing for a helicopter-like flying machine. The ‘Airscrew’ involved a rotating linen sheet and worked on the same principle as the modern day helicopter. Mechanical engines were still a long way off in Da Vinci’s time. This machine was designed to be propelled using four men. They would stand on the central platform and turn large cranks. Da Vinci theorised that if the men turned the cranks fast enough the screw would lift the machine into the air. Da Vinci thought that if the screw was large enough it could lift the four men off the ground. The linen screw he designed was over 15 feet in diameter. Possibilities Da Vinci believed that air had the same properties as water. While they do share some similarities the properties of air means that Da Vinci’s screw device would not work. Added to that, the sheer weight of the machine, coupled with the limiting strength of the four men means that the machine would be too heavy to take off.