The great flying machine with the upright pilot
A forty-braccia wingspan beaten crosswise 'like the gait of a horse,' built of cane and cloth
The great flying machine with the man standing upright. In a full-page drawing the aviator stands within a boat-shaped hull, driving a tall mechanism of drums and pulleys that beats the wings crosswise, like the gait of a horse; Leonardo affirms this to be better than any other. He reckons the pilot adds 200 pounds of force with his head and 200 with his hands, matching his own weight, and gives the dimensions: twelve braccia tall, wings opening to forty braccia with a rise of eight, and a body twenty braccia from stern to prow and five high, everything beyond the framework made of cane and cloth. A cord of the second joint runs to the second pulley, and a ladder serves for climbing up and dismounting.
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Upright pilot and the crosswise wing-beat
The standing man exerts 200 pounds of force with his head and 200 with his hands, the same as his own weight. The beating of the wings is crosswise, like the gait of a horse, and Leonardo affirms this arrangement to be better than any other. The pilot stands at the centre of the tall drum-and-pulley mechanism.
Dimensions and cane-and-cloth construction
The machine is twelve braccia high, its wings opening to forty braccia with a rise of eight, and its body twenty braccia from stern to prow and five high. Beyond the framework everything is made of cane and cloth. The cord of the second joint passes to the second pulley, and a ladder serves to climb up and dismount.