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 topic throughout his creative career: 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 gave a brief description of the design, but also gave recommendations on testing the device. 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 flapping had to be carried out by the outer parts, making up about half of the total wing area. 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. “The great bird will begin its first flight from the back of its gigantic swan, filling the universe with amazement, filling all scriptures with its fame, and eternal glory to the nest where it 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 the 18th 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 at the end of the 19th 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. A tall structure made of reeds in the shape of a cylinder or parallelepiped was apparently pulled out by 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 from 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 using an automatic system of 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 dragonflies 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.

Leonardo da Vinci Italian artist, scientist, technician, inventor, mathematician and anatomist. His scientific research in the field of aircraft is also interesting in our age of astronautics. Leonardo's manuscripts cover all areas of knowledge, testifying to the universality of his genius.

Leonardo da Vinci was born in the village of Anchiano near the town of Vinci between Florence and Pisa in 1452. He was the illegitimate son of the notary Piero da Vinci. Little is known about his mother Katherine; she died early. The twenty-five-year-old father married Albiera Amadori in the year his son was born. Leonardo spent his childhood with his grandmother Lucia and uncle Francesco.

From 1466 to 1472 Leonardo studied with the famous Florentine painter and sculptor Andrea Verrocchio. During these years, the creative method of the future master was developed, based on a careful study of nature, bold experimentation and serious knowledge in the field of exact sciences.

In 1517, Leonardo da Vinci went to France at the invitation of King Francis I. There he lived in the royal castle of Cloux, near the city of Aleboise. At this time he pays special attention to mechanics and drawing. Leonardo da Vinci died on May 2, 1519

“Mona Lisa” is a portrait of a young woman, painted by the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci around 1503. The painting is one of the most famous works of painting in the world. Refers to the Renaissance era. Exhibited at the Louvre (Paris, France). Full name of the painting and details.Ritratto di Monna Lisa del Giocondo Portrait of Mrs. Lisa Giocondo. Briefly about the main thing

About the sitter The personality depicted in the portrait is difficult to identify. Until today, many controversial and sometimes absurd opinions have been expressed on this subject: The wife of the Florentine merchant del Giocondo E Caterina Sforza I Zabella d Este A simple and ideal woman A young man in a woman's act A self-portrait of Leonardo The mystery that surrounds the stranger to this day attracts millions of visitors to the Louvre every year.

The ambiguous nature of the “Mona Lisa,” which he spent many years creating, became a beautiful, but at the same time, inaccessible and insensitive image. She seems voluptuous and cold at the same time. Despite the fact that Gioconda’s gaze is directed at us, a visual barrier has been created between us and her, the handle from the chair, acting as a partition.

Detective and history of "Mona Lisa" Since the beginning of the 16th century, the painting, acquired by Francis I after the death of Leonardo, remained in the royal collection. From 1793 it was placed in the Central Museum of Arts in the Louvre. On August 21, 1911, the painting was stolen by a Louvre employee. The purpose of this abduction is not clear. The painting was found only two years later in Italy. Moreover, the culprit was the thief himself, who responded to an advertisement in the newspaper and offered to sell “Gioconda”. It is assumed that he intended to make copies and pass them off as the original. Finally, on January 1, 1914, the painting returned to France.

Leonardo, apparently, did not leave a single self-portrait that could be unambiguously attributed to him. Scientists have doubted that the famous self-portrait of Leonardo's sanguine (traditionally dated back years), depicting him in old age, is such. It is believed that perhaps this is just a study of the head of the apostle for the “Last Supper Interesting Facts”

He wrote backwards, so the easiest way to read his notes was to hold them in front of a mirror. It is unclear why he did this, but all 6,000 pages of his notes that survive today contain drawings and this mirror text. Interesting Facts

There is reason to believe that Leonardo was homosexual. While the artist was studying in Verrocchio's studio, he was accused of molesting a boy who posed for him in his work. The court acquitted him. Leonardo loved water: he developed instructions for underwater diving, invented and described a device for underwater diving, and a breathing apparatus for scuba diving. All of Leonardo's inventions formed the basis of modern underwater equipment. Interesting facts
Vitruvian Man. The drawing shows Leonardo's talents in art and science and is an illustration of the relationships in the body of an adult, for example: the width of the palm is 4 fingers, the height of a person's foot is 1/6 of its width, the length of outstretched arms is equal to the height of a person

He was more of an inventor than an artist. Although he rarely made samples of what he invented, some of the things he invented in the 's are still in use today, such as helicopters and parachutes. Da Vinci was obsessed with the idea of ​​war and sketched an armored vehicle that could carry 8 people and shoot through holes in the armor (a kind of prototype armored personnel carrier). For the first time, what we call tanks today were used only in the First World War, that is, after half a thousand years had passed from their description by Leonardo. Interesting Facts

Leonardo was ambidextrous - he was equally good with his right and left hands. He suffered from dyslexia

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.

Read also:

• 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 (leather 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:

Leonardo da Vinci [The real story of a genius] Alferova Marianna Vladimirovna

Aircrafts. Dreams of flight. Ornithopters and airplane

The idea of ​​​​creating a machine that would help a person rise into the air literally haunted Leonardo all his life. He spent many hours watching the flight of birds and studying their anatomy. As a mechanic, the Master tried to come up with a mechanism that a person would control with his arms and legs, driving flapping wings. Most of the Master's flying mechanisms are ornithopters, that is, machines that would help a person become like a bird. The man was supposed to rise into the air, flapping his wings like a great eagle.

Leonardo da Vinci. Drawing of a vertical ornithopter. Pen, ink. Here a person sits in a car and sets the pedals in motion. The mechanism was placed inside a ball-shaped casing. This is more of a fantasy about flying than a real drawing of a car.

Leonardo built a test bench with a wing, trying to figure out how to lift a person into the air. The ornithopter models recreated from Leonardo's drawings cannot fly, but they reproduce the movements of bird wings in the smallest detail.

Mechanisms in which a person moves his wings with movements of his arms and legs can be found in Leonardo's recordings in various versions. Sometimes it is one pair of wings, sometimes two. One of the projects was a drawing of an aircraft in which a person had to lie with his legs in devices resembling stirrups - one leg raises the wing, the other lowers it. It’s easier to say: a person turns the pedals while lying down, and the drive, using cables and levers, makes the wings move. It is like an airship, upon boarding which a person will row through the air as if through water.

Da Vinci has another version of the ornithopter - when two pairs of wings are driven by both hands and feet. In this case, a person raises the wings with his hands using a drum, and lowers them with his feet. The person is again in the apparatus lying down. But Leonardo soon realized that a person simply did not have enough muscle strength to move his wings at a speed sufficient to lift him into the air. In fact, the paradox is that fairly simple calculations show that only a heavyweight can flap such wings, but at the same time his efforts are only enough to lift a puny guy into the air. That is, if one person could wave for another, then the person would long ago fly like a bird. But you can’t fool physics, unlike a physics teacher, when a student passes off a copied solution as his own.

Having come to such disappointing conclusions (meaning a lack of muscular strength), the Master began to look for mechanisms that could help a person with this. One of the drawings showed a mechanism that uses springs. The scheme itself, invented by Leonardo, was original from a mechanical point of view, but again had no practical implementation.

In the end, Leonardo abandoned the idea of ​​a flapping wing and began to think about a gliding wing. One page of his notes shows a gliding sheet and next to it a picture of a fixed wing. So in his fantasies a mechanism appeared that resembled a modern hang glider. In order to control the glider, a balancing mechanism and a movable wing were used. A drawing has been preserved in which a person is positioned in a suspension somewhat reminiscent of the current suspension of a hang glider. True, the pilot is depicted vertically. The master examined the balance of the glider - it should be built from bamboo and with guys made of raw silk or leather. The person was located much below this plane, which made it possible to balance the structure.

Reconstruction of Leonardo's ornithopter, called "Big Bird". Wikipedia. In this design, Leonardo carefully imitated the movements of bird wings

Already in our time in Great Britain, a “hang glider” was built from materials from Leonardo’s times according to his drawings, and the device was successfully tested on the chalk cliffs of England.

Without a doubt, Leonardo set himself a task that could not be solved with the technology of the 15th century. When developing the designs of his aircraft, da Vinci relied only on human strength, trying to make maximum use of the pilot’s muscles, forcing him to work with his arms, legs, and even his head. Not in the sense of thinking, but literally - using the head as part of the drive. But no matter how hard Leonardo tried, flight was impossible in his time - the great Master did not have an engine and the necessary light materials to create an aircraft. Leonardo intended to build his models from wood and fabric. Although it was probably possible to create a glider.

Man made his first flights in hot air balloons three centuries after Leonardo. In 1783, first the hot air balloon of the Montgolfier brothers, filled with heated air, took off, and then, in the same year, the hydrogen-filled balloon of Jacques Alexandre César Charles. And although it was possible to somehow control the balloon (for example, using ballast bags and an anchor), it was still a flight at the will of air currents - the balloon flew where the wind drove it, and not where the person planned to send it. Rather, it could become entertainment, the ecstasy of flight as such, rather than having practical significance.

Only in 1852 was a device created that could be controlled - this is how the airship appeared, a cigar-shaped aircraft with a propeller driven by a steam engine.

In the 80s of the 19th century, the “battle for heaven” began. Scientists, competing with each other, build flying machines, one more wonderful than the other. At the same time, theory development begins. It was at this time that gliders suitable for flight appeared.

As you understand, the glider itself cannot take flight - it must be accelerated using a winch or pushed off the windward side of the mountain. The first modern glider to lift a man into the air was designed by the English scientist and inventor George Cayley in 1853.

In 1882, Alexander Mozhaisky created and tested a monoplane with two steam engines. Whether this structure was able to get off the ground is not known for sure. The tests ultimately ended in disaster. Unfortunately, there was no money to continue the research.

The first aircraft engines were bulky and heavy steam engines. The project of the first airplane with an engine of this type belongs to the German Friedrich Matthies. Mattis intended to place a heavy engine in the center of the plane's diamond-shaped wing. Its design remained on paper and was soon forgotten. British scientist William Henson approached his work more thoughtfully. This device had a steam engine with a power of about 30 horsepower, the engine drove propellers with a diameter of just over three meters. In order to reduce the weight of the machine, the Englishman proposed replacing the conventional boiler with a system of conical vessels and using an air condenser. In 1844–1847, Henson carried out several tests of his airplanes. But they all ended unsuccessfully. The fame of the creator of the first aircraft to take off from the ground belongs to the British John Stringfellow. However, such a machine still could not really conquer the sky. At the end of the 19th century, the “cannon king” Hiram Maxim became interested in the creation of airplanes with steam engines. He decided not to waste time on experiments and immediately began building the aircraft. His apparatus was equipped with a steam engine with a capacity of 360 horsepower, and the size of his “monster” was like a two-story house. The plane weighed three and a half tons! As a result, this colossus, having momentarily lifted itself off the ground, immediately collapsed and turned into rubble. There were many such people who wanted to take off without wasting time on engineering research. The French engineer Clément Ader decided to use numbers and built several airplanes at once, which in the end could not fly. When the best of his brood, Avion Three, crashed in the presence of a state commission, the unfortunate engineer burned all his airplane drawings and switched to cars. As a result, by the end of the 19th century, inventors and designers realized that due to their size and weight, steam engines could not be used in aircraft construction. Although they had guessed about this before, trying to adapt an electric motor to an airplane.

The first aircraft that began to operate regular flights were airships.

However, at the beginning of the 20th century, airships had a new competitor. After creating a lightweight and reliable internal combustion engine, many designers again began designing heavier-than-air vehicles. The result was not long in coming: on December 17, 1903, the Wright brothers' plane took off. It was equipped with a gasoline engine with two cylinders arranged horizontally.

In order for the plane not only to take off from the ground, but also to fly, it was necessary to solve two major problems - to create an engine capable of lifting a heavier-than-air structure into the air, and to find a way to control the device in the air. The Wright brothers created the necessary engine and solved the control problem using “wing warp”. This principle was not used for long, and ailerons were soon invented. But airplanes did not immediately completely conquer the skies. The competition continued for a long time as to who would reign in the sky - an airship or an airplane.

An airship is a lighter-than-air aircraft; it “floats” in the atmosphere due to buoyancy, so the gas in the envelope must be light, less dense than the atmosphere. Typically, the shell of an airship is filled with hydrogen or helium. However, hydrogen is highly flammable. Helium is an inert gas and therefore safe, but it is a rare and expensive gas; at the beginning of the 20th century, its reserves were mainly in the United States of America, so Europe had to be content with hydrogen. Fire safety precautions had to be observed very carefully: when boarding the airship, passengers handed over matches and lighters.

Traveling in an airship at the beginning of the 20th century was significantly more comfortable than even modern airplanes, not to mention the first designs in the style of the Wright brothers. The passenger airship had a restaurant with a kitchen and a lounge for relaxation. The famous Zeppelin Hindenburg was equipped with a small, lightweight piano specially made for the airship.

And although airships successfully competed with airplanes for a long time, since at that time they could carry much larger loads than airplanes, heavier-than-air vehicles still won the battle for air.

It is believed that the era of airships ended when the German passenger airship Hindenburg burned down while landing in Lakehurst (USA). On the evening of May 3, 1937, the Hindenburg took off from Germany and headed west. He crossed the Atlantic Ocean, and on May 6 his passengers saw Manhattan. Wanting to please the passengers, and at the same time show off the zeppelin to the Americans, the captain made a circle over the city. After this, the airship headed towards the Lakehurst base. The landing was complicated by the approach of a thunderstorm front. During landing, a fire occurred; within 15 seconds, the fire spread throughout the airship and an explosion occurred; after another 15 seconds, the Hindenburg crashed to the ground next to the mooring mast. 36 people died in the crash. Regardless of what caused the fire, the Hindenburg disaster led to a halt in the construction of passenger airships. From now on, the sky belonged entirely to airplanes. Helium-powered airships were used only for reconnaissance during the war.

During the time between the World Wars, aircraft technology made enormous progress. The first aircraft were built from wood and fabric, but now designers have switched to an almost entirely aluminum fuselage. Everyone knows that aluminum is a very soft material, an aluminum spoon or fork can be bent by hand without much effort, and pure aluminum is not suitable for an aircraft body. But German engineers came up with an alloy of aluminum with copper and manganese; after heat treatment, such an alloy acquires the properties necessary for aircraft construction. This is duralumin (duralumin in common parlance), after the name of the city of Duren, where its production was established. In 1917, the German company Junkers built an all-metal monoplane from this alloy.

The development of aircraft engines also proceeded at a rapid pace. Numerous prizes for speed and range records played an important role in the development of aircraft manufacturing.

So, we see that to solve the problems that Leonardo struggled with, it took years of continuous work of scientists and engineers, the creation of new theories, new designs, new engines and new materials. None of this was at the disposal of the Master in the 15th century. The Industrial Revolution gave all this, as well as continuity of knowledge, when one researcher or designer can continue work where another left it.

However, Leonardo left us with something that is perhaps no less important than the achievement of all industrial revolutions - the belief in the limitless possibilities of man.