Leonardo da Vinci, as we all know, was a great innovator, far ahead of his times. One device he designed was for testing the ability of a beating wing to provide sufficient lift for the load it was required to bear up. The load he had in mind was a man, but clearly the Italian Health & Safety Executive were also far ahead of their times, because instead of trying it out with a real pilot he substituted a bench, weighing about 200lb.

Today, of course none of our aircraft use beating wings to create lift, because thanks to the genius of Leonardo we know that a modern airliner would need wings the size of St. James's Park together with engines as big as the NatWest Tower to flap them.

So, next time you jet off on holiday, as you sit there with your plastic beaker of wine of somewhat questionable origin, raise a silent toast to benches everywhere, and remember how much we owe to one of the great un-sung heroes - Leonardo's bench.