Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1921-10-27
The HQSkitl Letter
\ i Y y ssi-s5]' = ~ !, !.
~ FRED ERICH
i HASlEzN
LEONARDO'S WINGS.

his lack Of a competent scientific
technology. He saw very plainly that
| q bird had more power in its wings
and breast muscles in proportion to its
weight, than man has in his arms
and breast muscles, A man has his
biggest muscles in his legs. Leonardo
perceived that If he was going to
compete with the birds he would have
to fly with his legs.
How the Thing Worked
That was an. easy problem for him.
You would have to look at CAREERS
model to see just how he solved it.
The wings are operated by pullleys.
Leonardo, lying on his stomach on the
beam, grasped handles in each hand,
and put his feet in a pair Of stirrups.
BY throwing his arms up he raised the
wings, and by kicking backward, like
a swimmer, with both feet, he brought
them down and back. Thus, by going
through a sort of horizontal setting up
exercise, Leonardo could flap his
wings, as he thought, just like bird.
He had doubtless watched the easy
Tapping and sailing of the buzzards
which hung about the italian towns,
and figured confidently that he could
do just as they did.
Leonardo was good man, but like
many another good man, not as good
as he thought. It took several CEN
turtles to show just how far he had
miscalculated. Experience with motor
driven airships has shown that 10
horsepower engine is the least which
can fly the weight of man with any
success. It would take at least two
horsepower to lift a man off the
ground. And horsepower is equal
to about eight man power. Suppose
that Leonardo was about half again
as strong as the average man, he
would still have had to be neverthe-
lesss about II times as strong as he
was in order to fly. His little device
would have afforded him splendid
exercise, but no transportation.
Even if he had been IL times as
strong as he was, Leonardo would
probably not have risen an inch. A
bird not only beats it's wings with
much greater power, in proportion to
its weight, than man has, but it beats
them much faster than a man can
move his arms. About $50 wing beats
per minute are necessary to keep a
bird in the air. A man could not
possibly do that and keep it up.
One other point Leonardo over
looked. A bird does not really flap
the wings, as it appears to do. The
wing motion of birds is very COM
plicated thing which scientists have not
yet analysed to their satisfaction, but
they believe that the wing describes
approximately figure eight in the air.
Leonardo could not have executed such
a movement with his wings.
He never stood q chance to fly. But
If his body did not soar, his imagina-
ton did. He OWNED that man was
to conquer the air, and he initiated the
conquest.
Paul CARRIER. who has made da Vim
cts machine visible for us, is another
man of initiative. He was hired by
the museum to keep various models in
repair-a minor mechanical task. Hav-
ing mended everything mendable, Gar
Der looked the collection over and found
that the model of the first steam engine
was so constructed that it could mot
possibly have run. Accordingly he re-
built it.
I He then decided that the aviation
collection was incomplete. and set to
work, with much laborious research,
to make it full record of all mans
effort to fly. He has now nearly
finished that job, and is ut present
working on couple Of Roman Gaia
pults to complete the collection of
military technology.