'Flying machine designed by M. de la Landelle' Finish:none with hats either side

with hats either side

stands proudly by his convertible car

1821) for Martin van Marum

pictured 26th October 1978

'Flying machine designed by M. de la Landelle' Finish:none with hats either sideImaginary view of a steam powered orthoptere (helicopter) design by the French author Guillaume Joseph Gabriel de la Landelle (1812 1886). Clockwork and other models of prototype helicopters were made by several individuals in France during the 1860s including by de la Landelle and Gustave de Ponton d'Amcourt (1825 1888). These inventions are widely assumed to have inspired Jules Verne's 1886 novel Robur le conqurant (Robur the Conqueror or The