Bartolomeu de Gusmão's Passarola Airship

Bartolomeu de Gusmão's original Passarola Airship proposal. The original was written in Portugese, but English translation for the parts follows: A. Wing to support the boat. B. Rudder. C. Bellows to compensate for the lack of wind. D. Wings to hold the machine. E. Magnet enclosed in two metal globes to attract the body of the boat with double iron blades. F. Net of suspended pieces of amber. G. Compass. H. Pulleys to release the wind. I. Space for ten travelers and the Inventor pilot to direct his route.

Many of the oldest ideas for flying machines imitated birds in some way. This proposal, by Brazilian-born Portugese inventor Bartolomeu de Gusmão, fits squarely into this category. His flying machine, called Passarola, translates to bird in Portugese. Gusmão was building on the ideas of Francesco Lana de Terzi, who previously drew up plans for a flying ship, complete with sails and a hull. Passarola was more elaborate in its design, however, evidenced by the inventor’s description in his original proposal, pictured above. Gusmão envisioned a boat-like hull with a massive sail (A) draped over it, which was meant to catch the wind. When no wind was present, the sail would be inflated by a series of bellows (C). Somehow aiding the bellows were a pair of metal globes with magnets inside (E). Once the ship was airborne, a rudder (B) would control its movement through the air.

What’s most curious about Gusmão’s invention is the aesthetics. He consciously made it bird-like, complete with wings, a tail and a head. Though none of these parts function as they would on an actual bird, the end effect is a ship hull with bird parts attached. Birds were one of humankind’s original inspirations for flight, since we saw them flying up in the air above us, so it makes sense that many of our subsequent attempts at flight would imitate birds.

An illustration of Bartolomeu de Gusmão's Passarola Airship, quite similar to the original proposal. One main difference is that the airship is pictured among the clouds here, flying much like a bird does.

Gusmão presented Passarola to King João V of Portugal in 1709, and it was met with great enthusiasm. In fact, the king gave him sole rights to pursue construction of the machine, and stated that anyone who copied Gusmão’s invention would be put to death.[1] Shortly thereafter a public test date was set, but it never came to fruition. This is probably for the best, because by the look of it, a machine like this would probably need hurricane-like winds just to get off the ground.

Read more about other ideas for flying machines here.


[1]: Turnor, Christopher Hatton. Astra Castra: Experiments and Adventures in the Atmosphere. London: Chapman and Hall, 1865.