Story. The best inventions of Leonardo da Vinci, ahead of time Leonardo da Vinci airplane
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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 could be a prop in theatrical productions da Vinci 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. A reed structure covered with paper and consisting of a 12-meter wing and a net was to be attached to wooden beam weighing per 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 all the parts human body in order to maximize the energy source. 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.
Leonardo da Vinci may have been the greatest inventor in history, but in his time the technology was so weak that all the sketches of genius remained on paper at best. Da Vinci drew sketches and diagrams of his devices and kept notes. But either he did not have the desire to turn them into reality, or he did not have enough funds. As a result, during Da Vinci’s lifetime, virtually none of his inventions saw the light of day. And they learned about the works of the brilliant inventor only after his death, since he never submitted his notes for public discussion.
And this is incredibly sad because da Vinci's design skills were far ahead of his time. If they had been embodied in real inventions, who knows, maybe a revolution in the world of technology would have happened much earlier. On the other hand, many of da Vinci's sketches could not be realized using 15th and 16th century tools. But in the 21st century, many engineers happily began implementing da Vinci’s projects and found out that they really work. And they would have worked if da Vinci had been a little bolder and even a little more inventive.
Let's take a look at Da Vinci's inventions through the eyes of the average person in the twenty-first century.
Not impressed? Well, the bearing may not be the coolest thing an inventor can afford, but there are a lot of modern technology works with the help of bearings. Ball bearings allow drive shafts to rotate, push goods in a store or factory, and are the basis of almost any moving mechanism. Smooth balls placed between two moving surfaces virtually eliminate friction. For the first time, the idea, as many believe, was born during the Roman Empire, but historians believe that it was in da Vinci’s notebooks that the first sketches of the bearing appeared. Many of the devices invented by the genius would not work without bearings. But as with many of the inventor's concepts, the bearing had to be reinvented by someone else.
The distance from which a body falls depends on two factors: the force of gravity, which pulls it down, and the resistance of the atmosphere in which it falls. In the absence of an atmosphere, a falling body will simply accelerate to tremendous speed until it hits the surface, but the air slows down the fall until the body reaches the so-called terminal velocity. Different objects have different maximum speeds. For a person falling in the Earth's atmosphere - a parachutist, for example - this speed is approximately 193.1 km/h. Slowly, right? Let it be so, but this is enough for a person falling from an airplane to turn into a cake after hitting the surface of the earth. Only a parachute can save him.
Da Vinci, fascinated by the idea of a flying man, conceived his parachute as a means of drifting through the air. Its pyramidal structure was draped with fabric. As da Vinci wrote in his notes, such a device would allow a person to “fall from any height without any injury or damage.” The twenty-first century naturalists who implemented da Vinci's idea recognized that it worked exactly as he predicted.
Da Vinci was inspired by birds. He watched them, drew them and thought about creating his own flying machines. One of the results of this hobby was the ornithopter, a device invented by da Vinci that could theoretically lift a person into the air like a bird. While a da Vinci parachute would allow a man to jump off a cliff and stay alive, an ornithopter would allow him to float in the air above the ground.
On paper, an ornithopter looks more like a bird (or bat) than modern aircraft. Its wings will start working after the pilot turns the handle. This invention demonstrates da Vinci's deep understanding of aerodynamics. Modern attempts to reproduce the ornithopter have shown that it could indeed fly - if it were lifted into the air. Building an aircraft that uses weak human muscles would be more difficult.
The parachute and ornithopter were only two of the flying machines described by da Vinci in his notebooks. Others included a glider and a helicopter-like aircraft, which we may talk about later.
The da Vinci machine gun or "33-barreled organ" was not a machine gun in modern idea. He could not quickly fire bullets from one barrel. But it could fire volleys at short intervals, and if built, it would effectively mow down the advancing infantry.
The mechanism of this machine gun is simple. Da Vinci proposed assembling 11 muskets on a rectangular board, and then folding three such boards into a triangle. By placing a shaft in the middle, the whole thing could be rotated so that one set of 11 guns would fire while the other two cooled down and reloaded. After this, the entire mechanism turned over and fired another salvo.
And although da Vinci constantly noted in his notebooks that he hated war and cursed killing machines, he needed money, and he could easily convince wealthy patrons that such machines would help them defeat their enemies. Perhaps it was for the best that none of the killing machines conceived by da Vinci were built.
While living in Venice in the late 15th century, da Vinci developed the idea to repel invading ships. It was enough to send men to the bottom of the harbor in diving suits, and there they would simply open the bottoms of ships like tin cans. You may be underwhelmed by this idea because its implementation currently seems quite simple. But in Da Vinci's time this was unheard of. Da Vinci's divers could breathe using an underwater bell filled with air and wore masks with glass holes through which they could see underwater. In another version of the concept, divers could breathe using wine bottles filled with air. In both cases, the men would carry bottles to urinate in, so they could stay underwater for a very long time. Da Vinci's plan was not only feasible - it was practical!
These diving suits were actually created, but the invaders they were intended to be used against were successfully defeated by the Venetian fleet before underwater sabotage was needed.
Armored tank
While working for the Duke of Milan, Lodovico Sforza, da Vinci proposed what would become his crowning achievement in the field of military vehicles: the armored tank. Assisted by eight strong men, the armored tank looked like a turtle, bristling with 36 guns on all sides. It was equipped with a system of gears that formed a sequence. Eight people were protected from battle by the outer shell, so they could deliver such a “hedgehog” on foot right into the thick of the battle without being wounded. A weapon firing in all directions from an armored tank could be disastrous for an enemy squad.
The diagram of the armored tank in Da Vinci's notes contains a funny flaw: the wheels for forward movement turned in the opposite direction from the rear wheels. Built this way, the tank would not be able to move. Da Vinci was too smart to make such an unfortunate mistake, so historians have given several reasons why the inventor made such a mistake deliberately. Perhaps he really didn't want this car to be built. Another possibility is that he was afraid that the scheme would fall into the clutches of enemies, so he made a mistake to make sure that no one else could build the tank except him.
Self-propelled trolley
Working model.
Da Vinci's self-propelled cart is being promoted as the first automobile in history. Moreover, since it did not have a driver, it can also be considered the first robotic vehicle in history.
Da Vinci's drawings did not fully reveal the internal mechanism, so modern engineers had to guess what made the cart move forward. The best guess was a spring mechanism like the one used in watches. The springs were hidden in drum-shaped housings and could be wound by hand. And while the spring unwinds, the cart moves forward like a wind-up toy. The steering wheel could be programmed using a series of blocks in the gear chain, although the fact that the cart could only turn to the right would have significantly limited its usefulness.
Leonardo apparently considered his cart to be something of a toy, but we can be sure that if it had been built, more useful improvements would soon have followed.
Cities of the future
Leonardo da Vinci Bridge.
When Leonardo lived in Milan around 1400, the Black Plague was raging across Europe. Cities suffered far more than the countryside, and da Vinci theorized that there was something special about cities that made them vulnerable to the disease. This idea is surprisingly relatable, considering that germ theory was only developed in the early 20th century. Da Vinci set out to develop his own plan: a city, originally designed and created from scratch, that would be sanitary and habitable.
The result was a triumph of urban planning that was never built. Da Vinci's “ideal city” was divided into several levels, each of which had minimal unsanitary conditions, and a network of canals facilitated the rapid removal of waste. Water had to be supplied to buildings through hydraulic system, which served as the prototype of the modern one. The resources needed to create such a city were beyond the means at Da Vinci's disposal, and he was unable to find a philanthropist willing to shell out his money to build such a city.
Air propeller
Da Vinci's propeller is probably the coolest project that was found in his notebooks. It would operate on the principle of a modern helicopter. The flying machine looked like a huge pinwheel. The helicopter's "blades" were made of flax. If spun fast enough, they could create thrust, the aerodynamic phenomenon that allows planes and helicopters to fly. The air would create pressure under each of the blades, thereby lifting the flying car into the sky.
At least that was the idea. Could such a propeller fly? Hardly. But it would be cool.
Robot Knight
Leonardo da Vinci carefully studied human anatomy.
If the da Vinci self-propelled cart was the first working design for robotic transport, the robot knight could be the first humanoid robot, C-3PO of the 15th century. Da Vinci carefully studied the anatomy of the human body and spent hours dissecting corpses to find out how it worked. He realized that muscles move bones. After this, he decided that the same principle could form the basis of a machine. Unlike most of da Vinci's inventions, Leonardo appears to have actually built a robot knight, but it was used primarily as entertainment at the parties of the genius's generous patron, Lodovico Sforza. Of course, that robot was much different from .
Da Vinci's robot has not survived, and no one knows exactly what he was capable of. But apparently, he walked, sat and even worked with his jaws. It used a system of pulleys and gears. In 2002, robotics expert Mark Rosheim took da Vinci's workbooks to build a working model of the 15th century robot. As a result, Rosheim borrowed some ideas to create planetary reconnaissance robots, which.
As you can see, after half a century of space exploration, Leonardo da Vinci's projects finally went into outer space.
“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 on several projects down to the smallest detail (1485-1497) various types ornithopters: in a recumbent position of the pilot, an ornithopter-boat, with a vertical position of the 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, a 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.
Leonardo da Vinci was convinced that "a person who overcomes air resistance with the help of large artificial wings can rise into the air."
Convinced that he was right, he began to develop an apparatus driven only by the power of a person’s muscles, and allowing him to soar in the air like a bird. There are many drawings of this "ornitotteri" invented by Leonardo. Some of them depict a person lying down, who is about to take off with the help of mechanisms attached to the wings; others are propelled forward by a more advanced system of screws and pulleys. There are also drawings of a man positioned vertically in a flying ship, on the pedals of which he pressed with his hands and feet.
To design the "ornitotteri" wings, Leonardo studied the anatomy of a bird's wing, taking into account the function and distribution of its feathers. While observing the bird's flight, the scientist noticed that it flaps its wings differently when it hovers in the air, flies forward, or lands. He was also interested in the membranous wings of bats. Based on these observations, Leonardo designed huge wings designed not only to lift a person into the air, but also to keep him in flight, thanks to ailerons and hinges. He intended to imitate the aerial acrobatics of birds, their ability to conserve energy in flight and land accurately. Until the end of the 15th century, Leonardo was convinced that he could carry out the project of mechanical flight. However, he was concerned about the fact that the capabilities of human muscles are limited. Therefore, he was going to use the bow mechanism instead of muscle energy, which would provide forward movement. However, the bow did not solve the problems of autonomy in flight that arise when the spring unwinds quickly.
From 1503 to 1506 Leonardo was busy with research in Tuscany. Atmospheric conditions, the presence or absence of wind, and corresponding meteorological and aerodynamic phenomena forced him to abandon his old idea of an “instrument” based on the flapping of wings, and to recognize “flight without the movement of wings.”
Observing how large birds allow air currents to pick them up and carry them in the air, Leonardo thought about equipping a person with large compound wings that would enable him to enter a suitable air current with the help of simple body movements and without expending much effort. A person will float freely until he falls to the ground like a “dry leaf.”
Systematic research undertaken by Leonardo at the beginning of the 16th century led him to the need to study the “quality and density of air.” For this purpose he designed hydroscopic instruments. Leonardo emphasized that the laws of aerodynamics are similar to the laws of hydrostatics, i.e. the science of water is a mirror image of the science of wind, “which (the science of wind) we will show through the movement of water and this important science will be a step forward in the understanding of bird flight in the air.” .
In fact, the design of devices capable of flying has long attracted human attention. The passion for aircraft modeling, which for many begins with kites and paper airplanes, has now been successfully realized by manufacturers of radio-controlled models. Model airplanes can hardly be called toys, because most of them participate in serious competitions. Professionals divide aircraft modeling into amateur and sports, with the first type of hobby having the largest number of fans.
The idea of flight in the works of Leonardo da Vinci
Dmitry Alekseevich Sobolev, Ph.D. Sciences, Institute of History of Natural Science and Technology named after. S.I. Vavilova, RAS
One of the most interesting pages in the multifaceted work of Leonardo da Vinci is research devoted to the problem of human flight. Leonardo was the first scientist to seriously study this topic. His manuscripts contain drawings and brief descriptions of various aircraft. He returned to this theme throughout his entire career. creative activity: the first projects of flying machines date back to the mid-80s. XV century, and the latter date from the second decade of the XVI century.
The most numerous projects of devices with flapping wings are ornithopters. This is quite natural, since the bird was always the role model at the early stage of aviation development.
The first known design of a flying machine by Leonardo da Vinci was the design of an ornithopter, where a person should be in a recumbent position (1485-1487) (Fig. 1). To flap the wings, you need to use both the strength of the arms and the legs of the “pilot”. The wing axis was positioned in such a way that when moving down, it simultaneously moved backward, creating, along with the lifting force, the forward force necessary for horizontal flight.
Leonardo not only brought short description design, but also gave recommendations on testing the apparatus. He wrote: “You will test this device over the lake and put on a long fur as a belt so that you don’t drown if you fall. It is also necessary that the lowering of the wings be done with the strength of both legs at the same time, so that you can delay and balance, lowering one wing faster than the other, looking if necessary, just as you see kites and other birds do. Moreover, lowering with two legs is always more powerful than with one... And raising the wings should be done by the force of a spring or, if you want, by hand, or even better by lifting legs, this is better, because then your hands are freer" (Leonardo da Vinci. Selected works of natural science. M. 1955. P. 605).
To control flight altitude, da Vinci proposed an original mechanism consisting of a movable horizontal tail unit connected to a hoop on a person’s head. By raising and lowering his head, the tester had, according to Leonardo’s plan, to raise and lower the tail surface of the ornithopter (Fig. 2).
In an effort to reduce the effort required to move the wings, the great Italian inventor proposed making special fabric valves on the flapping surfaces, which, when the wing moves downwards, would be tightly pressed against the mesh stretched over the wing reinforcement, and during the reverse stroke would open, allowing air to pass freely. A similar idea was later used by other ornithopter designers.
Another option ornithoptera, proposed by Leonardo in the same years, was an apparatus in which a person had to flap his wings, like a cyclist, rotating with his feet wheels connected by levers to the power structure of the wings (Fig. 3). In the sketch of this device, what attracts attention is something resembling a bell suspended in front of the “pilot’s” face. Researchers are still debating what it could be. In my opinion, this device is a pendulum designed to indicate position in space. It is known that around 1485 the scientist made a sketch of such a device (Fig. 4). If this is so, then we see the first drawing of an aircraft instrument.
The most famous project is ornithopter boat(Fig. 5). It dates from about 1487. Apparently, a person had to sit or stand in the boat, moving levers connected to the wings. Another lever was intended for turning the horizontal steering wheel, shaped like a bird's tail.
At the end of the 1480s. Leonardo da Vinci makes a drawing and description of a large flying machine with two pairs of flapping wings (Fig. 6). Standing in something like a bowl, the man set his wings in motion using a system of pulleys. Interestingly, the device had a retractable landing gear; the supports could be folded upward using gates and cables (Fig. 7).
Leonardo explained the concept of his new ornithopter this way: “I decided that standing on your feet is better than lying flat, for the device can never turn upside down... The rise and fall of the movement [of the wings] will be done by lowering and raising both legs, which gives great strength, and your arms remain free. If you had to lie flat, your legs, at the shin joints, would become very tired..." (Leonardo da Vinci. Selected works of natural science..P.606).
This reasoning is, of course, correct, but nevertheless this project should be considered one of the least successful results of Leonardo da Vinci’s creative research. The very large dimensions of the device: wingspan - 40 cubits (about 16 m), structural height - 25 cubits (10 m), complex and heavy transmission - all this made the chances of getting into the air even less realistic than with previous ornithopters.
Apparently, over time, Leonardo himself realized the unreality of his plan. Perhaps he even conducted some experiments, since in his notes 1485-1490. There is a drawing of an experiment to determine the lift force of a flapping wing (Fig. 8). A little later, he pointed out the possibility of using a bow compressed with great force as a source of energy for the movement of wings (Fig. 9). When extended, a powerful bow could indeed create a large impulse of force, but it would be very short-lived, and at best the machine could only jump upward.
A hint for getting out of this deadlock was given by a thorough study of the mechanism of bird flight, which the scientist became interested in at the turn of the 15th-16th centuries. Observation of birds prompted him to the correct idea that the main thrust in flight is created by the end parts of the wing. As a result, at the very end of the 15th century. Leonardo makes a drawing of a fundamentally new design for an ornithopter - with a wing consisting of two articulated parts (Fig. 10). The swings had to be carried out by the outer parts, making up about half total area wing This idea, which is the first step in the emergence of the concept of a fixed-wing aircraft - an airplane, found practical implementation in the last decade of the 19th century. in the experiments of the famous German aviation pioneer O. Lilienthal. It is known that he tried to fly with a glider, the ends of the wing were driven by an engine attached to his body (Fig. 11).
The next step in the evolution of Leonardo's views on the design of a flying machine is associated with his study of the mechanism of soaring and gliding flight of birds. He concluded: “...When a bird is in the wind, it can stay on it without flapping its wings, because the same role that the wing performs in relation to the air when the air is still, is performed by the moving air in relation to the wings when the wings are stationary” ( Leonardo da Vinci. Selected works of natural science. P.497).
Based on this principle, known today as the principle of reversibility of movement, Leonardo comes to the conclusion: it is not a person who should push the air with his wings, but the wind should hit the wings and carry them in the air, just as he moves a sailing ship. Then the pilot of the flying machine will only need to maintain balance using the wings. “It does not require much strength to support oneself and balance on one’s wings and direct them into the path of the winds and control one’s course; small movements of the wings are enough for this,” writes Leonardo da Vinci in 1505 (Giacomelly, R. The aerodynamics of Leonardo da Vinci // Aernautical Journal. 1930. Vol. 34. P. 1021)
Based on the concept he developed, the scientist decided to create a new type of aircraft. Most likely, it should have been fundamentally different from the ornithopters of previous years. According to the Italian researcher of Leonardo da Vinci's work, R. Giacomelli, it could have been a monoplane with a wingspan of approximately 18 m, designed for flight in rising air currents (in modern terminology, a soaring glider). The wings were movable, but compared to previous projects their mobility was very limited and would only serve for balancing (Giacomelly, R. Leonardo da Vinci e il volo meccanico // L "Aerotechnica. 1927. No. 8. P. 518-524 .).
The manned “artificial bird” was supposed to launch from the top of Monte Cecheri (Swan Mountain) in the vicinity of Florence and, picked up by vertical currents, rise into the air. " Big bird will begin her first flight from the back of her gigantic swan, filling the universe with amazement, filling all scriptures with rumors about herself, - eternal glory to the nest where she was born,” wrote Leonardo da Vinci in his “Treatise on the Flight of Birds” (1505) (Leonardo da Vinci, Selected works of natural science, p. 494).
But Italy was not destined to become the birthplace of gliding. Loaded with numerous orders, Leonardo was never able to begin implementing his idea (or did not want to - for him it was always more interesting to generate projects and postulates than to bring them to life).
Shortly before his death, the scientist once again returned to thoughts about moving through the air using a fixed wing. His manuscript, kept at the Institute of France in Paris, contains a little-known drawing dating from 1510-1515. (Fig. 12). It depicts a man holding a plane with his hands and descending through the air, and there is an indication of the method of control: “This [man] will move to the right if he bends his right arm and straightens his left; and will then move from right to left as he changes position hands" (Gibbs-Smith, C. Leonardo da Vinci's aeronautics. London, 1967. P. 21.). Apparently, this idea of a simple balanced glider, or, more precisely, a controlled parachute, arose from Leonardo as a result of observing falling of a sheet of paper in the air.
Speaking about Leonardo da Vinci's research in the field of flight, one cannot fail to mention two more pioneering projects - the parachute project and the helicopter project. Both of them were made in the 1480s, at the same time as the first proposals for the creation of ornithopters.
Leonardo accompanied the drawing of a man descending on a pyramid-shaped parachute (Fig. 13) with the inscription: “If a person has a tent of starched linen, 12 cubits wide and 12 cubits high, he will be able to throw himself from any great height without danger to himself” (Leonardo da Vinci. Selected works of natural science. P. 615).
The familiar image of Leonardo da Vinci's helicopter (Fig. 14) represents the first project of a vertically taking off aircraft. Unlike modern helicopters with a bladed propeller, this machine had to take off using the well-known in the 15th century. Archimedean screw, with a diameter of about 8 m. Despite the fact that the screw had to be unscrewed by hand, Leonardo da Vinci believed in the feasibility of his project: “I say that when this device made by a screw is made well, that is, from canvas, the pores of which are starched, and is quickly set into rotation [...] the said screw is screwed into the air and rises up."
Like all first proposals, these projects were still imperfect. The parachute did not have a special hole in the top of the canopy, providing a stable descent trajectory, and the helicopter design did not take into account the influence of the reaction torque from the rotation of the propeller, which would spin the structure located below, and the shape of the propeller was far from the best. But they both represent remarkable technical foresight nonetheless.
The remarkable ideas of Leonardo da Vinci remained unknown for a long time, since he did not publish the results of his research. Ultimately, what Leonardo achieved over several decades dragged on for centuries. Only in XVIII century Unsuccessful attempts to fly by flapping wings attached to the arms and legs were replaced by the first designs of aircraft with a fixed wing generating lift and small movable wings to create forward force - Swedenborg (Sweden, 1716), Bauer (Germany, 1763) .), Keighley (England, 1799). Flights on balancing gliders began in late XIX century, and the first helicopters appeared only in the 20th century.
An analysis of the development of views on the design of a winged aircraft in the works of Leonardo da Vinci and in the works of subsequent aviation pioneers allows us to draw the following general conclusion: contrary to the common point of view among aviation historians, the idea of an aircraft did not originate in itself as an alternative concept to the ornithopter, but “grew” from projects of devices with flapping wings through a series of intermediate designs of half-aircraft, half-ornithopter, the author of the first of which was the great Leonardo.
Vertical "ORNITOTTERO"
The need for a more powerful source of energy led Leonardo to the idea of using all parts of the human body during flight. The picture shows a man controlling sliding mechanisms not only with the help of his arms and legs, but also with his head, which, according to Leonardo, “has a force equal to 200 pounds.” A man stands in the center of a huge vessel, which is a bowl with a diameter of 12 m, equipped with a ladder (12 m). The wings of the device had a width of 24 m and a span of 4.8 m. On this device, Leonardo intended to use two pairs of wings, flapping alternately.
Helicopter
This drawing is an image of the “ancestor” of the modern helicopter. The radius of the propeller was 4.8 m. It had a metal edging and a linen covering. The screw was driven by people who walked around the axis and pushed the levers. There was another way to start the propeller - it was necessary to quickly unwind the cable under the axis. “I think that if this screw mechanism is well made, that is, made of starched linen (to avoid tearing) and quickly spun, then it will find support in the air and fly high into the air.”
Hydroscope
The hydroscope is an instrument invented by Alberti. It was a simple set of scales with a hydroscopic substance (cotton wool, sponge, etc.) and wax that did not absorb water. According to Leonardo, the device was used to “find out the quality and density of the air and when it would rain.”
Tilt meter
This device is a pendulum placed inside a glass vessel (in the shape of a bell), which serves to “direct the apparatus (aircraft) straight or inclined, as you prefer, that is, when you want to fly straight, place the ball in the middle of the circle.” .
Balancing Study
The movements of the glider in flight were controlled by movable wings and the balancing of the pilot: “a person must be free from the waist down so that he can balance himself, although he is in a boat, and so that his center of gravity coincides with the center of gravity of the entire structure and is balanced with him".
Equilibrium Study
The scientist conducted a study of the glider's balance in order to determine the bird's center of gravity. There are no drawings of this glider, but it is known that it must have been built from lightweight materials: bamboo and fabric with fastenings and guy lines made of raw silk or special leather. High design made of reed in the shape of a cylinder or parallelepiped, apparently pulled out on straps from the very wide (about 10 m wide) wings of this glider. In this design, the pilot was located much lower than the wings, which created the balance of the device.
Reclining "ORNITOTTERO"
This drawing is one of Leonardo's most famous drawings: "A rotates the wing, B turns it with a lever, C lowers it, D raises it." A man lies stretched out on the platform: “The heart is located in this place.” The legs are threaded into stirrups in such a way that one leg raises the wing, the other lowers it. This is an aircraft in which a prostrate person turns pedals that raise and lower the wings, bending and rotating them with the help of ropes and levers, i.e. this device seems to be “rowing” through the air.
In another variant, the "Ornitottero", the four wings were driven by the pilot's hands and feet. The hands raised the wings with the help of a drum, and the legs lowered one pair of wings in turn. Thus, the rhythm of the flapping wings accelerated. The device on the pilot's back was controlled by winding the ropes onto the drums and unwinding them.
Model "ORNITOTTERO"
Here is one of the options "ORNITOTTERO". The pilot with the equipment on his back was located under a metal semicircle; the movement of the wings was created by the movement of the legs. This was helped by the hands operating the handles located under the semicircle. The steering wheel was placed on the pilot's neck. The direction of flight was determined by turning the head.
Ornithopter
The fuselage is shaped like a pilot's boat. Apparently, Leonardo thought about air in the same terms as about water. The huge wings (similar to bat wings) are driven by a system of screws and nuts. As on boats, a rudder was provided. The wide tail plane must have been intended to control the height.
The picture shows not a glider controlled by a pilot, but an interesting “hybrid”. The pilot hangs vertically in the center of the vehicle, the tips of the wings have joints that control the vehicle, and a rigid structure supports it.
Spring driven ornithopter
Convinced that it was impossible to control such a device using only the power of human muscles, Leonardo gave alternative solutions. For example, he designed a device with a spring-starting device that transfers its energy to the wings of the “ornitottero” (in this case, vertical) at the moment the spring straightens. In the detailed work on the left, Leonardo depicted a device similar to those he used in his “car” and in some clock mechanisms. This system was theoretically so ahead of its time that it even received the name “Leonardo’s Airplane.” In practice, it turned out to be imperfect due to the need to quickly unwind the spring and the difficulties in rewinding it during flight.
Parachute
“If a person has an awning made of thick fabric, each side of which is 12 arm lengths, and the height is 12, then he can jump from any significant height without breaking.”
Flight of bird
Thanks to systematic studies of bird flight, Leonardo decided to replace flight with flapping wings with gliding flight. Around 1505, his book “Codice sul Volo degli Uccelli” was completed (it is currently in Turin, in the former Royal Library). These drawings are from this book.
Wind speed measuring device
There was another type of anemometer. It was made of cone-shaped tubes and was used to determine whether the wind turning a wheel was proportional to the air intake opening in the cone, given identical wind intensity.
System of braces for levers and connections
Leonardo believed that the wings could be raised and lowered by a system of ropes and pulleys, driven by the pilot's legs in stirrups and his hands operating the handles. While rising and falling, the wings also bent and straightened with the help of automatic system guys, levers and connections.
Descent to the ground "with a dry leaf"
“A person will turn to the right if he bends his right arm and extends his left; by changing these movements, he will turn from right to left.”
Anemometer
The picture shows a “plate anemometer”, or “brush”, since feathers were traditionally used to sample the wind. The device is a graduated reed with thin plates that move depending on the intensity of the wind.
Vertical take-off and landing apparatus
Leonardo planned to place a system of retractable staircases on the vertical “ornitottero”. Nature served as an example for him: “look at the stone swift, which sat on the ground and cannot take off because of its short legs; and when it is in flight, pull out a ladder, as shown in the second image from above... this is how you need to take off from the plane; these stairs serve as legs...". Regarding landing, he wrote: "These hooks (concave wedges - see details on the right), which are attached to the base of the ladders, serve the same purpose as the tips of the toes of the person who jumps on them, without his whole body being shaken by it." as if he were jumping in heels."
Leonardo da Vinci amazes with the variety of his scientific interests. His research in the field of aircraft design is unique. He studied the flight and gliding of birds, the structure of their wings, and created flying machines with flapping wings, a parachute, a model of a spiral propeller and other devices unique for his time. Leonardo's manuscripts contain dozens of images of various flying structures with a number of interesting engineering solutions.
Wing design
Leonardo began the creation of “airplanes” by studying the behavior of a dragonfly in the air, and then came up with a flapping wing as a means of studying repulsion from the air. It was necessary to calculate the human strength required to lift the flywheel into the air, the total weight of which was supposed to be about 90 kg.
After carefully studying the flight of birds, Leonardo da Vinci designed his first model of a flying machine, which had flapping wings like a bat. With its help, pushing off the air with the help of wings and using the strength of the muscles of the arms and legs, the person had to fly.
The wings were supposed to not only lift a person into the air, but also, thanks to such devices as ailerons and hinges, keep him in the air. Leonardo was then convinced that he could achieve human flight with the help of flapping wings. He was going to replace the insufficiently strong muscles with the energy of a mechanism such as a cocked bow, which, he believed, would be quite sufficient for human flight. However, even when using this winding mechanism, problems arose with the rapid unwinding of the spring.
Years passed, and when Lenardo, after a short break, again took up the study of flight, he was already thinking about soaring flight with the help of the wind, knowing that in this case less effort was required to hold and propel the aircraft in the air.
Ornithopter with recumbent pilot
On such a device, a person must be in a supine position during the flight and control the mechanisms of the flapping wings with movements of the arms and legs. The legs are threaded into stirrups so that one leg raises the wing, the other lowers it, and then vice versa. The wings bend and rotate using ropes and levers.
Ornithopter
This aircraft has a body shaped like a boat. Huge wings, similar to the wings of a bat, are driven by mechanisms. Like boats, a steering wheel is provided for steering. The wide tail plane was most likely intended to control height.
Vertical aircraft
A vertically flying vehicle is considered the predecessor of the helicopter.
In this apparatus, the inventor provided two pairs of wings flapping in turn. During the flight, a person had to stand inside a huge bowl with a diameter of 12 m. The wings of the device had to be 24 m wide, and their span was about 5 m. To control the mechanisms of the device, the hands, legs and even the head of the pilot had to be used. The flapping of the wings was supposed to occur in a cross pattern, up and down, like the wings of a bird. If this were built, the machine would be so heavy that flight would be impossible. Leonardo recognized this problem and tried to reduce weight by using lighter materials.
Vertical take-off aircraft
On this device Leonardo wanted to install a system of retractable stairs, an analogue of a modern retractable landing gear. Upon landing, concave wedges attached to the base of the ladders would serve as shock absorbers.
Air propeller
In his sketches, Leonardo also depicts a completely different aircraft - a “propeller” capable of rising into the air. A device with such a propeller should fly by screwing itself into the air! The radius of the propeller was 4.8 m. It had a metal edging and a starched linen covering. The screw had to be driven by people who walked around the axis and pushed the levers. There was another way to start the propeller - it was necessary to quickly unwind the cable under the axis.
Reconstruction:
The model is made on the basis of a square wooden frame, from the corners of which there are also wooden guides, fastened above the center of the frame. The material fixed to the frame forms an exhaust hood. Ropes are attached to the corners of the frame, on which a person hangs below. However, in practice, descent with such a parachute cannot be safe, because the material will simply be torn apart by the air pressure. As Leonardo da Vinci believed, “if a person has an awning made of thick fabric, each side of which is 12 arm lengths, and the height is 12, then he can jump from any significant height without breaking.” He was not able to test this device himself.
Reconstruction:
However, the flying devices of the great inventor Leonardo da Vinci never took off. Everything remains only on paper.
After 500 years of oblivion
The flying machine invented by Leonardo da Vinci has finally taken to the skies. Recently, a prototype of a modern hang glider, designed exactly according to the scientist’s drawings, was successfully tested over the English county of Surrey. The aircraft was made exclusively from materials available during Leonardo's lifetime. The medieval hang glider resembled the skeleton of a bird from above. It was made from Italian poplar, cane, flax, animal tendons and flax treated with a glaze derived from beetle secretions. During test flights from the hills, it was possible to raise the “delta plan” to a maximum height of 10 m and stay in the air for 17 seconds. It cannot perform aerobatic maneuvers, but it takes off from the ground and flies beautifully.
