Painter, architect, scientist, inventor — Leonardo da Vinci ranks as history's consummate innovator. Consumed with a boundless desire for knowledge, he investigated technical challenges that were hundreds of years ahead of his time. The power of flight was a particular source of fascination for him, and his close studies of bird anatomy and movement informed his development of the ornithopter — a winged, human-powered aircraft.
With Leonardo's da Vinci's Flying Machine, you can create a fully working model of the inventor's amazing creation. This self-contained model kit features a 48-page book with details from Leonardo's notebooks plus full-color, easily joined components. Once assembled, the wings flap by turning a crank. Like the prototype, your model won't actually fly, but you'll have an amazing replica of one of the Renaissance genius's most famous futuristic inventions.

David Hawcock is a designer specializing in pop-up books, 3-D novelty items, and advertising. He has created many well-known titles, including the Classic Pop-Up Tale series (Dracula, Frankenstein, Sherlock Holmes) and The Amazing Pull-Out Pop-Up Body in a Book. David is never happier than when cutting up cardboard and paper, creating everything from working clocks to life-size human and dinosaur skeletons.