Tito Livio Burattini’s Flying Dragon
Sketch of Tito Livio Burattini’s Dragon Volant, or Flying Dragon. The design was meant to fly with four flapping wings (B) to provide lift, and three other pairs of wings (A, C, D) to control the flight.
The above sketch is by Italian engineer Tito Livio Burattini, drawn sometime between 1647 and 1648. At first glance, it’s hard to reconcile a sketch of a flying dragon with a serious proposal for human flight, but Burattini had spent quite a bit of time researching flight, and the sketch was part of a larger treatise on the subject. It was titled Ars Volanti, and throughout the text Burattini wrestled with the idea of flight and how it may be achieved. He was heavily influenced by the work of Archimedes and Galileo, and was well-versed in principles of mechanics, but when it came to his idea for a flying machine, he fell a bit short of a serious contribution to the subject.
Throughout much of Ars Volanti, Burattini explored scientific principles that relate to flight, including buoyancy, birds, and air resistance, among others. It’s only at the very end that he arrives at his dragon (called Dragon Volant in Italian), and he’s quite vague about how it works. Here’s his original description in full:
I do not think it wise to divulge the internal design of the machine, which would in any case be difficult to explain. Let it suffice for the present to show the exterior, which, as may be seem, is made in the form of a dragon in which up to two men can stand, one of whom works while the other is resting, as is done on board a ship. It can travel by night also, with the help of a compass, and has provision for food and drink for a few days; and, what is more important, it is built in such a fashion that if any of the wings should break, it will not crash to earth but will sink gently downwards so that those inside will suffer only the most minor injuries.[1]
Not much to go on here, but thankfully Burattini included two sketches as part of his treatise, and one of them had a few notes that provide some info on how the machine would fly. Pictured above is the more detailed of the two sketches, with letters to indicate the major parts of the design. The four vertical wings (B) would flap up and down to provide lift, while the six other wings (A, C, D) would allow the pilots to control the flight. A parachute-like dome (E) could be opened in the event of a fall, which would allow the machine to land safely.
Original, less-detailed sketch of Tito Livio Burattini’s Dragon Volant, or Flying Dragon. Originally appeared in Burattini’s treatise Ars Volanti from 1647.
Pictured here is Burattini’s other sketch from the treatise. This was the older, more child-like of the two, and on it’s own it doesn’t inspire much confidence in the design. One assumes the second sketch, shown at the top, was added some time after the original, to give the design a more serious representation. Still, throughout the early history of flight and flying machines, a flying dragon isn’t the most unbelievable design to be found.
Read more about other ideas for flying machines here.
[1] : References and quotes throughout this post taken from Hart, Clive. The Prehistory of Flight. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985. 135-145.