The Flying Dane

3/22/2025

Jacob Ellehammer was a pioneer of mechanical engineering who developed petrol-driven motors and went on to pioneer aviation techniques that actually saw contraptions get off the ground. That imagination is quite well captured here as this documentary marries an illustrative look at the history of flight from Da Vinci onwards - using early sketches and photographs - with Ellehammer’s more practical conceptual designs. Unlike with many of the whackier ideas to get mankind airborne, his used more calculated scientific approaches based on the aerodynamics of windmills whilst looking at the impact of weight and the requirements for thrust to get up and, more importantly, stay up. There’s quite a nerve-wracking sequence featuring an intrepid would-be flier perched half way up the Eiffel Tower. H