In the 1770s, Jean Pierre
François Blanchard worked on designing heavier-than-air flying
machines, including one based on a theory of rowing in the air currents
with oars and a tiller. One machine consisted of an enclosed cabin
in which a man’s pedaling with both arms and legs would be
amplified by gears and transferred to the flapping wings outside.
A machine that flies by flapping its wings became known as a ornithopter.
In 1809, Jacob Degen
claimed he had successfully flown in an ornithopter. However, this
was not strictly true as his machine was tethered to a large hot-air
balloon. Degen actually used his wings to provide him just enough
lift to rise with the help of the balloon. He repeated this performance
several times in Paris and Vienna between 1806 to 1817.
A Belgian, the Brugge-born
Vincent de Groof, also attempted to get an ornithopter to fly. He
moved to London where he built his flying machine. On 8th July,
1874, Groof, who called himself the Flying Man, launched his ornithopter
from a shuttle balloon piloted by Charles Simmons. The ornithopter
failed to work and Vincent de Groof fell 80 feet (24.3 m) to his
death.
