The Dream of Flight - Page 6

Leonardo's "ornitottero prono" - glider with maneuverable tips, pilot lying in a prone position

The other two Leonardo designs incorporated by Holo-Leonardo into his flying machine are covered above, but the "ornitottero prono" merits a section on its own to provide a self-contained description of Leonardo's design.

It is the "ornitottero prono" design which is featured in [74 The Raven] and seen hanging on the wall of the holographic workshop in [68 and 69 Scorpion] and [74 The Raven]. Part of either the "ornitottero prono" is seen in [75 Scientific Method] or else it is simply a wing from a design, either an improved design or a different one, that Holo-Leonardo is working on, but there is not really enough to speculate on. See screenshot and Leonardo drawing below:

The design dates from c.1488-89. This drawing, which occurs on folio 74v of Manuscript B of the Codex Atlanticus, puts the design for the glider-style flying machine in a central position, and has three notes written underneath (in Leonardo's usual mirror-handwriting) which all relate to the machine in his drawing.

By contrast with many of Leonardo's designs, this drawing is highly finished and delineated by precise clean lines, while the layout of the written note is very regular. However, the page is still a working note to himself and the notes were added one after the other, for the Maestro worked on his notebooks in the same way as he did his paintings, namely he continued to apply his "brushstrokes", sometimes in the form of notes, at other times as drawings, as long as there was empty space on the "canvas".

The prone position of the pilot in the glider design, and the requirement to manipulate the wings with the hands from that position i.e. with outspread and arms, is fairly similar to appearance to that of a bird. In his mind, nature and technology were overlapping, and that would be more evident during the later period of the Codex On The Flight Of Birds. In his notes that accompany the glider design, Leonardo cites the kite and other birds as models to imitate and at one point refers to the flying machine as a bird. Holo-Leonardo does the same in [79 Concerning Flight]: "'The great bird will take flight and bring glory to its nest.' So I have bragged for months. Instead, we almost drown with half of Florence watching."

One of the three notes on Leonardo's manuscript is about an experiment he plans to carry out using the flying machine, which he says should be over a lake in order to reduce the risks from a fall. In [79 Concerning Flight], Holo-Leonardo takes this precaution, which Janeway describes as "wise", of launching his prototype flying machine over the River Arno in Florence. When the experiment fails, he and Janeway plunge into the river and arrive back at his workshop drenched. There Holo-Leonardo hurls the tattered remnant of a wing onto the floor, and the pair have to endure the taunts of the crowd. The test-flight is not seen in the episode.

above: Diagram 1

See Key below. In the two drawings below, the machine is analysed looking only at the mechanism on the right wing.

above: Diagram 2: the wing is closing

above: Diagram 3: the wing opens

Key to Diagrams 1-3:

f		"Feet in f" wrote Leonardo. All the mechanisms are activated by the pilot who pushes with both feet against pedal f. This pulls three different cords, which Leonardo referred to as a, b, c.
A		"A twists the wing." Lina A passing through a pulley system is connected to the extremity of the wing. The wing tip folds when it is pulled.
b		"b turns it with a lever". Line b runs through a metal ring that moves the bar attached to the wing giving it a rotatory motion.
c		"c lowers it". Line c by using a system of pulleys produces the main up-down flapping movement in the wing.
M		"The pivot M should have its centre of gravity just off the perpendicular so that as the wings fall they also fall towards the man's feet." The metal structure supporting pivot M is bent forward to allow for the correct movement in the wings.
d		"the foot d raises the wings [....] d moves from bottom to top." Once the wings are spread using pedal f, the pilot re-opens the wings by pushing the other pedal, pedal d. Leonardo suggested that this movement could be helped by the use of a series of springs.

Janet's Star Trek Voyager Site