Welcome to On Verticality. This blog explores the innate human need to escape the surface of the earth, and our struggles to do so throughout history. If you’re new here, a good place to start is the Theory of Verticality section or the Introduction to Verticality. If you want to receive updates on what’s new with the blog, you can use the Subscribe page to sign up. Thanks for visiting!
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Jakob Degen’s Flugmaschine
This is Jakob Degen’s design for his Flugmaschine, an ornithopter that was meant to fly with the power of human muscles. Degen was a Swiss watchmaker who became interested in human flight in the early 1800’s. He designed the first prototype of his Flugmaschine in 1807, which is pictured above. It was rather simple to operate; the pilot would stand on a rigid metal frame and move a horizontal bar up and down in order to flap the wings.