LEONARDO’S DRAGONFLY

It isn’t hard to imagine Leonardo lying on his back in the grass beside a brook in late summer, watching the dragonflies flitting about overhead, and wishing he could fly like them. He left several sketches of dragonflies, and he knew that they flapped their front and back wings in alternation. In fact, one of his earliest designs for a flying machine uses dragonfly-style wings powered by a person pedaling from below. He may have made a model like the one here, cut out of one of his own sketches. This little glider swoops rather than flits, but you’ll be amazed at how well it flies.

1 Gently crease the Wings (1) and the Reinforcement (2) as shown. The front wings go up, and the back wings go down. Glue the Reinforcement to the bottom of the Wings.

Here’s how the wings will look from the front.

2 Mountain fold the Fuselage (3). Carefully overlap the top flaps and glue them together so they meet exactly. Make sure the Fuselage isn’t twisted.

3 Seal the back of the Fuselage with a tiny bit of glue.

4 Use a round toothpick to roll Ballast Part (4). Fasten the end with a tiny bit of glue. Then attach Ballast Part (5) and roll and glue it the same way, followed by Ballast Part (6). Remove the toothpick.

5 Securely glue the Ballast to the front of the Fuselage, using the raw edges of the sides and the under-side of the top flap.

6 Glue the Wing to the top of the Fuselage as shown.

7 Carefully bend up the back edges of the back wings for stability, and you’re done!