Helicopters are unusual planes, in that they can go straight up in the air. The first ever helicopter was designed by Leonardo da Vinci. He lived over 500 years ago, in Italy. Of course his helicopter was never made, because in those days, the engine hadn't been invented. There was nothing to make the helicopter work. But engineers today say that his helicopter design, fitted with a modern engine, would have flown.

Leonardo was a very famous artist. (If you do a search on the intranet, you can read more about him). This is his actual drawing of a helicopter. It has a different kind of rotor to turn and lift the machine, but the ideas are similar to how they work today.

Helicopters are often used today around big cities. They can also be used to bring people who have had accidents to a big hospital. They are very useful for this kind of thing because they can land in a very small space. They don't need a runway like a normal plane.

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