UK TV Heads-up

Channel 4, Monday 3rd February, 21:00 (second programme at 21:00 on Monday 10th)

“Leonardo’s Dream Machines”

“Could Man have flown 400 years before the Wright Brothers’ historic flight? One of the greatest artists of all time, Leonardo da Vinci, made several designs for a flying machine. Channel 4 assembled a team of world-class experts – from art historians and engineers, to constructors and a daredevil pilot – to build an aircraft from these designs and then attempt to fly it.”

The programme was filmed over a few months last summer at Skysport Engineering, which meant I was fortunate enough to be able to get a close up look at the work they were doing on a weekly basis.

Now I know that Leonardo Da Vinci’s glider design might not be to everyone’s tastes on this forum, but believe me, it’s well worth setting the video for. Watching this thing take shape over the summer was just fascinating, and frequently had me lost for words. The design, the methods used, the materials they sourced to make it – all were as true to Da Vinci’s original drawings as they could possibly be. The finished article is absolutely stunning.