Inspiration for this glider may have come from the string-controlled
kite. It has been suggested that the Leonardo may have built and
In the drawing the feet of the pilot are placed at 'm'
and the body is at 'a,b'. He has clearly thought about how the
the flight, using cords. But it is not clear from the drawing which
is the nose and which is the tail of the glider.
|Leonardo's design for a glider.
Original drawing by kind permission of Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid.
Manuscript I, f 64r.
A glider based on this drawing was successfully flown
by the paraglider Robbie Whittall. After 40 crashes, a tail was added to
make it fly properly.
Reminiscent of the modern hang glider, Leonardo's glider with controls
relies on pure gliding without flapping. However, Leonardo was obsessed
with the possibility of humans flying using flapping wings like birds
- an idea that had inspired others before him. Such a machine is called
an ornithopter. The aviation pioneer Otto Lilienthal (1848-1896) built
more than 10 aeroplanes, mostly gliders, stretching fabric over willow
canes. Although not exactly to Leonardo's designs they vindicated many
of his thought processes. Like Leonardo, he could not entirely let go
of the notion of flapping as a means of propulsion.
|The model of the glider
Model-maker: Simon Sanderson