One of the special displays in the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio features the inventions of Leonardo da Vinci. Shown below are some of da Vinci’s ideas regarding flying machines and war machines.
According to the display:
“Leonardo made practical use of the modern elements in his machines. For him, the machines were manifestations of the power of nature. Yet his designs were often ahead of his time, and few of them were ever built. The machines here are modern constructions. As much as possible, they incorporate materials and methods from Leonardo’s time.”
The machines in the exhibit are based on designs Leonardo recorded in his notebooks. About 6,000 pages—about a fifth of the total number he recorded—survive today. According to the display:
“For most of his life, Leonardo kept notebooks. He recorded ideas and observations about life, work, people, and events—and drawings of all kinds.”
Flying machines
War machines
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