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Da Vinci's Vehicular Concepts
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1. Up, Up and Away: Da Vinci's Aerial Screw

HowStuffWorks.com

Da Vinci certainly had high aspirations: He dedicated much of his studies to the idea of human flight, which resulted in a few different kinds of designs. His flying machine foreshadowed the airplane, but he had another idea that foreshadowed the helicopter.

Da Vinci's inventive helicopter design played with the idea that a spinning screw-shaped structure could achieve lift straight up into the air. On the bottom is a wooden platform where men would rotate the center stem of the structure. Above them is an enormous helical structure of linen (supported with thick iron wire) around the stem.

It was a nice idea, but wouldn't quite have worked. For one, it lacked rotational stability — which is why modern helicopters also use a tail propeller.