The Toy Shop helicraft is a model with a long history. Nearly 500 years ago, the Italian artist and scientist, Leonardo Da Vinci sketched plans for a helicopter-like flying machine, and even earlier, the Chinese were making helicopter toys called "flying tops." A variety of experiemental model helicopters were built long before the first real ones got off the ground. One version, built by two Frenchmen in 1784, had blades made of feathers, and used the spring action of a piece of whalebone to turn the rotors. Others used steam as a source of power. A model built by Alphonse Penaud in the 1870's was powered by rubber bands just as The Toy Shop's helicraft is.