DaVinci Ornithopter

Nice model, welcome to LJ!

-- Bob in WW ~ "some old things are lovely, warm still with life ... of the forgotten men who made them." - D.H. Lawrence

What a great sculpture!

-- Being focused on a project is the best meditation, it allows you to live in the moment"

Thank you very much. I work in an office all week, and when I get to the weekend, its just like playing when you were a kid.

-- Im so impressed with what people can do, and I wonder how they do it. Thats what keeps me doing it.

Beautiful work Bill….do you have plans for this structure?...or is this built from dwgs and photos??...would love to get my hands on plans if you have any….love to try this one myself…..

-- regards, cyclops4069

Thank you, it was a great project. Its mostly an interpretation of what I could figure out in drawings, but I got a great book, Leonardo’s Machines Published by D&C (David and Charles). Its a bunch of CAD drawings of some of DaVinci’s machines and really cleared up a lot of things. From that I just SWAG’d the measurements.

-- Im so impressed with what people can do, and I wonder how they do it. Thats what keeps me doing it.

Some really well done woodworking Bill, not to mention all that classy brass work and the historical aspect. I like that you added your own details instead of making a perfect copy. That is what a craftsman/inventor from the era would have done, which makes it even more authentic in my mind. Welcome to LJ. I hope you enjoy yourself here.

-- Mike, an American living in Norway.

well done

-- Brian, Ontario Canada,

That’s a beauty! You’re liberal interpretation makes it a Bill original inspired by DaVinci. Purists preserve the lessons of history. Artists make history. Both are important, but I wouldn’t worry about what the other ‘party’ says. One day someone might be a purist about your creations.

-- Thanks for all the lessons!

Another elegant design. And I have to ask which aviation pioneer is next on your list: Santos Dumont, Glenn Curtis, Samuel Langley, Alexander Graham Bell, or the ones who actually succeeded – my hometown favorites Wilbur and Orville? :) Thanks for posting.

-- Leafherder

Wow. Color me “Impressed”

-- Perform A Random Act Of Kindness Today ... Pay It Forward

Thanks Leafherder, I think I actually want to build one of Dumont’s airships. I read the book “Wings of Madness” 8+ years ago and it was really great to get a feeling of that age. Five guys could go up in a week in home built whacky ideas, and only 2 might survive…...what a crazy time. This is Dumont’s Demoiselle

Another great book of that time is “Colonel Cody and the Flying Cathedral” by Garry Jenkins. Samuel F Cody was the first to fly in Britain, but he was actually an American, Samuel Franklin Cowdery. This is a scratch built Cathedral out of Oak of all things.

-- Im so impressed with what people can do, and I wonder how they do it. Thats what keeps me doing it.

That is super cool. I love your other projects as well.