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Building Leonardo da Vinci's Parachute — The Sealed Linen Pyramid of 1485
In a notebook around 1485 Leonardo da Vinci sketched a pyramid of sealed linen and wrote: 'If a man have a tent made of linen of which the apertures have all been stopped up, and it be twelve braccia across and twelve in depth, he will be able to throw himself down from any great height without suffering any injury.' For 500 years people assumed it could never work. In 2000 the skydiver Adrian Nicholas built it to Leonardo's exact dimensions and descended smoothly beneath it — proving the Renaissance master right. This blueprint reconstructs that rigid-frame linen pyramid: cut and sew the canopy, seal it airtight, lash the frame, and rig the harness.
Erfahren
16
Anweisungen
1
1
Understand Leonardo's design
Understand Leonardo's design
Leonardo's parachute is a four-sided pyramid of sealed linen, twelve braccia (about 7 metres) square at the base and twelve braccia tall. Unlike a modern soft parachute it is held open by a rigid frame. The sealed cloth traps a large volume of air, and the drag of that trapped air slows the fall.
2
2
Cut the four canopy panels
Cut the four canopy panels
Cut four tall isosceles triangles of strong linen — one for each sloping face of the pyramid. Each triangle has a base of about 7 metres and rises to the apex. Add a generous seam allowance along every edge for stitching.
Materialien für diesen Schritt:
Linen Fabric60 square meterBenötigte Werkzeuge:
Sharp Scissors3
3
Sew the panels into a pyramid
Sew the panels into a pyramid
Stitch the four triangles together edge to edge to form the pyramid canopy. Punch the stitch holes with the awl and sew with strong waxed cord in a double row so the seams can carry the load of trapped air.
Materialien für diesen Schritt:
Binding Rope20 MeterBenötigte Werkzeuge:
Awl4
4
Seal the linen airtight
Seal the linen airtight
Rub warmed beeswax and boiled linseed oil into the whole canopy so the weave is filled and 'the apertures are all stopped up', as Leonardo insisted. A sealed canopy traps the air instead of letting it leak through — this is what makes it work.
Materialien für diesen Schritt:
Beeswax500 gram
Boiled Linseed Oil1 Liter5
5
Lash the square base frame
Lash the square base frame
Cut four straight, light poles and lash them into a rigid square frame the full width of the canopy base. This frame holds the mouth of the pyramid open against the rush of air.
Materialien für diesen Schritt:
Green Wood Poles (1-2m)4 StückBinding Rope10 MeterBenötigte Werkzeuge:
Hand Saw6
6
Raise the apex struts
Raise the apex struts
Run light poles from each corner of the base frame up to a single apex point and lash them there, forming the pyramid's skeleton so the canopy keeps its shape and cannot collapse inward.
Materialien für diesen Schritt:
Green Wood Poles (1-2m)4 StückBinding Rope10 MeterBenötigte Werkzeuge:
Knife7
7
Mount the canopy on the frame
Mount the canopy on the frame
Lash the sealed canopy to the base frame and up the apex struts so it stands as a taut, rigid pyramid with no slack cloth to flap or spill air.
Materialien für diesen Schritt:
Binding Rope10 MeterBenötigte Werkzeuge:
Awl8
8
Rig the harness lines
Rig the harness lines
Tie four strong suspension lines from the corners of the base frame down to a central harness, all the same length so the load hangs level and the trapped air stays balanced above the jumper.
Materialien für diesen Schritt:
Binding Rope20 MeterBenötigte Werkzeuge:
Knife9
9
Understand why it works
Understand why it works
The 7-metre sealed canopy presents a huge area to the air. The drag on that area is enough to hold a person's fall to a safe, steady speed. The rigid frame keeps the pyramid fully open the whole way down — the reason Leonardo's shape descends stably where a limp sheet would not.
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10
Test responsibly
Test responsibly
Treat this as an engineering reconstruction, not a stunt. Inspect every seam and lashing under load, and demonstrate it as a scale model or a static drop test only. The historic full descent was made by a trained skydiver carrying a modern reserve parachute — never jump a home-built parachute.
Materialien
5- 60 square meterPlatzhalter
- 70 MeterPlatzhalter
- 1 LiterPlatzhalter
- 8 StückPlatzhalter
Materialien verbundener Blueprints
You can swap these in
Can't get one of the materials? Swap it for an equivalent — these work just as well.
- Instead of Boiled Linseed Oil, try:
Essential Oil (Floral)
Frankincense Essential Oil (Boswellia carterii)
Hemp Seed Oil (Cold-Pressed) - Instead of Linen Fabric, try:
Jute Fabric
Kevlar Fabric
UV-Resistant Fabric
Modal Fabric
Carbon Fiber Fabric - Instead of Knife, try:
Blunt Collection Knife
Gilder's Knife - Instead of Hand Saw, try:
Portable Band Saw - Instead of Sharp Scissors, try:
Small Sharp Scissors
Verwandte Blueprints
Diese Blueprints teilen Wissen — Techniken, Materialien oder Prinzipien
Related blueprints
Other builds that share materials, tools, or techniques with this one.
Building Leonardo da Vinci's Ornithopter — The Flapping-Wing Flying Machine
Building Leonardo da Vinci's Armored Car — The Ancestor of the Tank
Building Leonardo da Vinci's Self-Propelled Cart — The First Programmable Robot
Building Leonardo da Vinci's Revolving Bridge — The Swing Bridge for a Marching Army
Building Leonardo da Vinci's Aerial Screw — The Ancestor of the Helicopter
Building a Food Drying Rack — Sun and Wind Preservation Framecooking
CC0 Gemeinfrei
Dieser Blueprint ist unter CC0 veröffentlicht. Sie dürfen dieses Werk für jeden Zweck frei kopieren, ändern, verbreiten und verwenden, ohne um Erlaubnis zu fragen.
Unterstützen Sie den Maker, indem Sie Produkte über seinen Blueprint kaufen, wo er eine Maker-Provision von Anbietern festgelegt, verdient. Oder erstellen Sie eine neue Iteration dieses Blueprints und verbinden Sie ihn in Ihrem eigenen Blueprint, um Einnahmen zu teilen.