Home | Our Parish | Our New Building | Our Classes | Calendar | Photo Gallery | Children's Pages


    Leonardo da Vinci


    Leonardo da Vinci - self portrait, 1512 Leonardo da Vinci was an Italian artist. He was born in Florence on 15th April, 1452. Leonardo was born probably in a farmhouse in Anchiano, which is 3 km away from Vinci. Leonardo's family had lived in this area since the 13th century. He had a huge interest in Science and drew amazing machines. One was called the aerial screw. It looked similar to a helicopter. Indeed the invention of the helicopter can be traced to Leonardo da Vinci. He was the first to design a flying machine that was lifted vertically in the air by means of a propeller. The flying machine had its own drive system on board.

    Leonardo's Ornithopter Another was the 'Ornithopter'. This also was similar to a helicopter. The ornithopter is one of many intriguing ideas created by Leonardo da Vinci. Although these inventions were never carried through to completion, the drawings for them are skillful. The ornithopter was the result of the artist’s interest in the flight of birds. Leonardo was very interested in aerodynamics. This was the first aircraft that could use human body power. He drew it around the 15th century. The aircraft had a flapping wing though as far as we know Leonardo never built his machine. Leonardo's ornithopter would probably not have flown because it was too heavy.


    One of the class made a model of Leonardo da Vinci's ornithopter.

    A model of Leonardo's ornithopter

    To learn more about Leonardo da Vinci, click here.

    The Bernoulli Effect | Leonardo da Vinci | Kites | The first Balloon Flight | Lindbergh and Earhart
    | The Wright Brothers | The Future