Power to Fly

2/8/2024

Man has always been obsessed with flying, and so this colourful and engagingly scored animation sets about following just how mankind has striven to emulate the birds. From the rather perilous early attempts - strapping feathers to your arms - to Leonardo's helicopter and parachute designs, we investigate some of the more daft scientific contraptions that married the best available science (?) and loads of imagination that were never going to get off the drawing board, much less the ground. The balloon arrives - altitude yes, but control - well, not so much. Maybe the Chinese kite might inspire some sort of glider? Well at least that started to take more seriously the concepts of power and aerodynamics. A small steam engine could do the trick? Imagination certainly wasn't lacking until 184