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The Dream of Flying |
Page 9 |
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| Tito Livio Burattini (1647) and his "Flying Dragon" | ||||
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Tito Livio Burattini was an Italian scientist (1627-1681). In 1642 he
was employed at the royal court of Poland, where he stayed for the rest of
his life. In 1647 Burattini sent a description with drawings of an
ornithopter, "The Flying Dragon" to the king. He did not get much response; it was war time,
but he seems to have built at least one model of his design. The ornithopter had four
pairs of wings in tandem of which the two middle pairs was for lifting, the
front pair for propulsion and the rear for both lifting and propulsion.
There was a tail unit for control - it would have been worked with
springs, and the machine would have flown with a cat as passenger. It is said that he built a "Flying Dragon" in full size 1648, but this is probably not true. Burratini also made tests with a parachute. |
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| © Lars Henriksson |
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Updated 2009-05-13 |
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