In 1864, a Belgian shoemaker named Vincent de Groof designed an apparatus which was a sort of cross between beating wings and a parachute. His plan was to cut loose with it from a balloon, and to glide down in a predetermined direction by manoeuvring the supporting surfaces. He endeavoured to make a practical experiment, both in Paris and in Brussels, but it was only in 1874 that he succeeded in doing so in London.

The apparatus consisted of two wings, each 24 feet long, moved by the arms and the weight of the operator, and a 20 foot long tail which could be adjusted using one’s feet.

De Groof first went up on June 29, 1874, from Cremorne Gardens, London, attached to the balloon of Mr. Simmons. He came down safely, and claimed to have cut loose at a height of 1,000 feet. Subsequently however, it was stated by others that in fact he had not, on this occasion, cut loose at all, but had descended still attached to the balloon. In any event, he went up again on July 5 following, with the same balloon, and on this occasion he really did cut loose. The result was disastrous. In his descent, as soon as pressure gathered under the moving wings, they were seen to collapse together overhead into a vertical position, bringing De Groof down like a stone and killing him on the spot.

Arnold Coblitz in ornithopter in Czechoslovakia

The Clark & Fitzwilliams Cycloplane of 1910 was built in Buffalo, New York, USA. The pedal-powered Cycloplane (sometimes Cycleplane) was 16 feet long spanning 15 feet, weighing about 55 pounds; with approximately 100 square feet of wing surface. Warping wings, front elevator and rear plane with rudder, were all controlled by levers on the frame. It is claimed that flights of 100 feet with a 119 pound pilot were made.

In 1856 Godwin Swift of Kilkenny, Ireland, aka Viscount Carlingford patented an aeroplane both in England and France, resembling in outline a falcon gliding downward with partially closed wings, described by the inventor as follows: “The aerial chariot in form is something in the shape of a boat, extremely light, with one wheel in front and two behind, having two wings, slightly concave, fixed to its sides”. “A tail can be raised and lowered at pleasure by means of a cord. The chariot is drawn forward by an ‘aerial screw’ in front thereof, which screws into the air at an elevation of 45°, turned by means of a winch acting on three multiplying wheels.” The machine was built and tested by swinging it from a rope. The propeller and a wheel are preserved at the Rothe House Museum of Kilkenny.