History of the Helicopter
Flying like a bird has been one of mankind’s oldest dreams. Attempts to build machines capable of flight have been made since ancient times. One of the oldest methods of flight is a spinning propeller on top. In ancient China, children would attach feathers to a stick and spin them between their hands, and the sticks would float away. In 1483, Leonardo da Vinci made a sketch of a large, screw-like object meant to spin and travel in the air.
Many attempts were made to create a flying machine from the 16th to the 18th century, yet they all had one common problem. Steam engines were too large and inefficient to hover, let alone fly. There was no way to sufficiently power such a machine. When the internal combustion engine was invented, the hopes of mankind taking flight once again seemed possible.
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