Flight is one of the most important phenomena of life on our planet and is around 150 million years old (the Archaeopteryx genus of bird-like dinosaurs). It has existed throughout every period of history, with or without human involvement. Since nature deprived man of wings, he has had to rely on engineering. The flight of birds was for a long time an inspiration for human endeavours in this direction, until because of its impossibility it became more of an obstacle than a model.
In around the year 1500, the great artist, scientist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci sketched a series of human-powered flying machines, although he came to realise that this method would not be successful. A new possibility appeared in the eighteenth century with the principle of lighter-than-air flight – or balloons (the Montgolfier brothers, 1783). The remainder of the eighteenth century was characterised by aerostats (lighter-than-air aircraft). At the same time, however, advances were being made with heavier-than-air flying machines, which resulted, in the late nineteenth century, in the first successful flights with gliders (Otto Lilienthal, 1896) and eventually in powered flight (the Wright brothers, 1903). In the period that followed, innovative aviation became one of the fastest developing spheres of transport and engineering.
Ivo Boscarol (born 1956 in Postojna) is by international standards a top producer of ultralight and experimental aircraft. After a start in sports flying, he went into the development and manufacture of aircraft distinguished by the highest technical, safety, aesthetic and environmentally friendly properties. His visionary approach integrated into the classic basis the most advanced technology, and his production units around the world have continuously been laboratories for the new concept and philosophy of flying. In the world of aviation he is known as a pioneer of electric aviation, for which he also received the title Living Legend of Aviation.
Sandi Sitar, engineering historian
