TAKE A LOOK ATTHE CODEX ON THEFLIGHT OFBIRDS DESIGNEDBY LEONARDO DA VINCI
Leonardo da Vinci: The Codex on the Flight of Birds
This manuscript consists of 18 pages, each measuring 154 x 213 mm, and represents Leonardo da Vinci's most comprehensive study of flight. Created between 1505 and 1506, it was intended to form the foundation of a treatise on flight and aerodynamics that was never completed. The manuscript includes a series of sketches and notes, reflecting Leonardo's fascination with the principles of flight. The manuscript can be dated thanks to a reflection recorded by Leonardo, who noted that he watched the Cortone (a bird of prey) take flight from the 5th to the 14th of March. Initially bequeathed to Francesco Melzi, Leonardo's student, the manuscript was later stolen by Napoleon and taken to France. It later passed through England, where it was divided into individual sheets, before being sent to Siberia. It then returned to Italy, where it was reassembled. In 1893, the manuscript was donated to the House of Savoy by Teodoro Sabachnikoff, a Russian scholar of the Italian Renaissance. Four sheets were missing at the time, but these were later restored through additional donations. Since then, it has been housed in the Royal Library of Turin, where it is not available for public viewing.Leonardo viewed flight as the ultimate expression of human ambition. Using his characteristic mirrored writing, he filled the manuscript with observations and designs focused on the flight of birds, alongside concepts for flying machines. His studies include detailed anatomical sketches of birds, descriptions of wing movements, architectural designs for bridges and waterways, botanical sketches of plants, and an exploration of air currents and resistance, highlighting the breadth and depth of his scientific curiosity. Among the manuscript's most significant contributions are Leonardo's attempts to understand the aerodynamics of mechanical flight. By studying the behavior of birds, he proposed concepts for flying machines, including wing designs and mechanisms to control flight. Amongst the elaborate flying machines illustrated throughout this codex we also find his designs for his famous “Great Bird” - the craft with which he and Zoroastro of Peretola undertook the First Flight! Notably, Leonardo identified two key factors for maintaining balance in the air: the center of gravity and the center of resistance of the wings. To study the movements of the Great Bird, Leonardo designed two mechanical flying machines: the mechanical bat and the Aerial Screw (precursor of the modern helicopter).
These concepts laid the groundwork for future developments in flight, leading to the creation of machines that could support themselves in the wind. In this way, Leonardo’s studies foreshadowed modern glider flight and brought him closer to uncovering the aerodynamic principles that would later define aviation. His Codex on the Flight of Birds remains the most advanced aeronautical treatise prior to the 19th century.
