(b) / ca. March-April, 1505 / 1979 / Iwanami Shoten Publishers / Japanese edition of facsimile / UMUT

This manuscript contains, from the recto of the 18th leaf to the verso of the 4th leaf, the Codex on the Flight of Birds. According to the interpretation of Ichiro Tani, Ken’ichi Ono and Yasuhiro Saito, by “bird”, Leonardo designates both winged animals and the flying machines he conceived. For the latter, the machines named “giant bird”, there were three types: a spring-powered one, one with a bat-like wing, and one where the flyer lies prone. During his three years in Florence from 1503 on, he observed in detail the flight of raptors such as horned owls, and attempted to apply the results of his observations to his plans for human flight.