Ch7-The Great Bird

CHAPTER SEVEN The Great Bird. Leonardo shook the reins. The white horse clopped out of the courtyard and into the street. "So where are we going?" Annie asked. "To a steep hill just outside the city walls," said Leonardo. "One day you will tell people that you were with me on this historic Monday. You saw

the mad genius, Leonardo da Vinci, and his Great Bird!" "Cool, but can you tell us exactly what you're planning to do?" said Jack. "For twenty-five years, I have sketched birds and bats," said Leonardo. "I have studied all their movements, their gliding, their flapping, their landing, and their rising into the air. I have asked myself over and over, Why can a person not fly as birds do? So, years ago I began building my Great Bird." "Your Great Bird?" asked Annie. "Ha-ha!" laughed Leonardo. "Wait and see! Wait and see!"

The horse pulled the cart through the city gates, heading into the countryside. The chilly air was warmed by bright sunlight. Leonardo tugged on the reins and his horse turned off the main road and started up a narrow, rocky path. The cart bumped past pale green olive trees and yellow fields of wildflowers. Soon it came to the bottom of a steep hill. Leonardo pulled the reins and his horse halted. "There! Can you see it?" he said. "My Great Bird." He pointed to a strange-looking structure on the top of the hill. "What is it?" asked Jack. "The wings are like those of a bat, only much, much larger—large enough for a man!" said

Leonardo. "About a month ago on a moonlit night, my apprentices and I brought it to the top of this hill. I did not have the confidence to try it then, but now I do." Jack was confused. He knew people didn't fly airplanes until the beginning of the 1900s. "Um— maybe you should work on this one a little longer," he said. "I mean, maybe—" "No, no, today is the day! I feel it!" said Leonardo. "Stay here and watch." Leonardo leapt down from the cart and took long strides up the steep slope. "Quick, look up Great Bird in the Leonardo book," Annie said to Jack.

Jack pulled out their research book and looked up Great Bird in the index. "It's here!" he said. He found the right page and read aloud: Leonardo da Vinci spent years making a flying machine that he called the Great Bird. But not until the invention of lightweight motors, nearly 400 years after Leonardo's time, would human flight be possible. It is not known whether Leonardo ever tried to fly the Great Bird. If he did, he surely crashed. "Oh, no!" said Annie. "His machine won't work! If Leonardo tries to fly off that hilltop, he'll crash. We have to stop him before he hurts himself!"

Annie jumped out of the cart. Jack put the book away. He left his bag in the cart and ran after her. They started up the steep hill. "Leonardo, stop!" shouted Annie. But Leonardo kept climbing. "Human flight isn't possible yet!" Jack cried. "Don't try it, Leonardo!" yelled Annie. Jack and Annie were only halfway up the hill when Leonardo reached the top. He began strapping himself into a harness on the Great Bird. Large handles were attached to the harness. On each side were huge cloth wings stretched over a wooden frame. "Don't!" shouted Jack.