Igor Sikorsky
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Sikorsky Aero Engineering Company Stock Certificate courtesy of Scripophily.com |
Igor Ivanovich (or
Ihor Ivanovych)
Sikorsky (; ) (
25 May,
1889 –
26 October,
1972) was a pioneer of
aviation who designed the first four-engine
fixed-wing aircraft and the first successful
helicopter of the most common configuration (single main rotor tail rotor).
Igor Sikorsky was born in
Kyiv, (also spelled Kiev)
Russia (currently
Ukraine), as the youngest of five children. Sikorsky's father was a
professor of
psychology. His mother also was a
physician but didn't work professionally. While homeschooling young Igor (until the age of nine) she gave him a great love for art, especially in the life and work of
Leonardo da Vinci, and the stories of
Jules Verne. He started to experiment with model flying machines, and by age 12 he had made a small
rubber-
powered
helicopter.
Sikorsky studied at the Naval War College in
St. Petersburg from 1903 to 1906, and from 1907 to 1909, but did not finish formal studies. For a short time in the years (1906-1907) he studied engineering in Paris. In 1908 Sikorsky and his father traveled to Germany, there he saw a newspaper picture of
Orville Wright and his plane. Sikorsky later said about this event: "Within twenty-four hours, I decided to change my life's work. I would study
aviation."
With financial backing from his sister, Sikorsky returned to
Paris in 1909 to study aerodynamics. Paris was then the center of aviation in
Europe. He met several French
pilots, including
Louis Bleriot, the first person to fly across the
English Channel. Sikorsky returned to Kiev the same year and started to experiment with flying machines.
In 1912 Ihor Sikorsky became Chief Engineer in the Russian Baltic Railroad Car Factory in
Saint Petersburg. In 1914 he was awarded the Degree in Engineering "Honoris Causa" by
Saint Petersburg Polytechnical Institute. His S-6-B aircraft won a small order from the
Russian Army. Other early work included the construction, as chief
engineer, of the first
four-
engine aircraft, the
Bolshoi Baltiski, which he called the Grand. He was also the
test pilot for its first flight, on
13 May,
1913. Sikorsky's planes were used by
Russia as
bombers in
World War I (see
Ilya Muromets) and he was decorated with the
Order of St. Vladimir.
After
World War I Sikorsky briefly became an engineer for the
French forces in Russia during the
Russian Civil War, that ended with the
Armistice. Seeing little
opportunity for himself as an aircraft designer in war-torn Europe (and particularly Russia, ravaged by the
October Revolution and Civil War), he emigrated to the
United States in 1919.
In the U.S., Sikorsky first worked as a school teacher and a lecturer looking for an opportunity in aviation industry. In 1923, helped by several former Russian army officers, he formed the
Sikorsky Aero Engineering Company. Among Sikorsky's chief supporters was composer
Sergei Rachmaninov who introduced himself by writing a check for $5,000.
In 1928, Sikorsky became a
naturalized citizen of the United States. The next year, Sikorsky Aero Engineering Company was purchased by and became a subsidiary of United Aircraft, itself now a part of
United Technologies Corporation. The company manufactured
flying boats such as the
S-42, used by
Pan Am for trans-atlantic flights and known as
Pan Am Clippers.
Sikorsky had experimented with helicopter-type flying machines while in Russia. He brought his work to fruition on
14 September,
1939 with the first flight of the
Vought-Sikorsky 300, a machine with a single three-blade rotor powered by a 75
horsepower (56 kW) engine. Its first free (untethered) flight was on
13 May,
1940. The VS-300 was not the first successful helicopter to fly, but it was the first of the single-rotor configuration that became the world standard.
Ihor Sikorsky had a daughter born in Russia and four sons born in the United States. His eldest son, Sergei, remained active with the company following Igor's death in 1972.
Sikorsky has been designated a Connecticut Aviation Pioneer by the state legislature. The
Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation in
Stratford, Connecticut, continues to the present day as one of the world's leading helicopter manufacturers, and a nearby small airport has been named
Sikorsky Airport.
*
Aerosanâ€"Sikorsky built some of these propeller-powered sleighs in 1909â€"10.
*
Sikorsky Prize - A prize for human powered helicopters named in his honor.
* Sikorsky's autobiography,
The Story of the Winged S. (originally published 1938; updated editions, various years up to 1948)
* Frank J. Delear,
Igor Sikorsky: His Three Careers in Aviation (New York, 1969) - described as "the only biography"[
1]
* : "Aircraft, especially aircraft of the direct lift amphibian type and means of construction and operating the same"
*
Igor Sikorsky article from
ctheritage.org (reference)
*
Biography from Sikorsky company*
Official Sikorsky historical archives*
Igor Sikorsky. Time magazine. 16 November 1953. (Cover)
*
New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, has extensive Sikorsky exhibits
*
"VOICE OF AMERICA: EXPLORATIONS - March 27, 2002: Igor Sikorsky"*
Igor Sikorsky@Everything2.com
