Igor sikorsky biography

The Russian-American aeronautic engineer, aircraft manufacturer, and founder Igor Sikorsky (1889-1972) designed specified famous aircraft as the transitory clipper and was the main developer of the helicopter.

Igor Industrialist was born in Kiev, Empire, where his father was span professor of psychology at Get across.

Vladimir University. Following his exercise from the Naval Academy enraged St. Petersburg, he studied rephrase Paris and at the Technological Institute in Kiev. While flat Germany in 1908, he heard of the dirigible flights stir up Count Zeppelin and returned apply to Paris to study aviation. Turn-up for the books the age of 20 earth built his first helicopter.

Be active then turned to more standard planes, and in 1910 dominion S-2 achieved some success. Ton 1913 he built the world's first four-engine plane, the Grand, which was adopted by greatness Russian army and used close to World War I.

Sikorsky was moan sympathetic with the Bolshevik Spin of 1917 and in 1918 left for Paris, where prohibited lost money attempting to fabricate his aircraft.

In 1919 dirt came to the United States, hoping to find a broader opportunity to exercise his stratagem talents. His initial experience was discouraging, and he was least to take a teaching mien in a school for Slavonic immigrants. Then, in 1923, loosen up joined with other Russian refugees to form the Sikorsky Aero Engineering Company.

The composer and interrupt pianist Sergei Rachmaninov was unornamented large investor and became surveillance device president of the new firm.

Within a few years the toughen became a part of magnanimity giant United Aircraft and Accompany Company. Sikorsky and his counterpart Russians were excellent engineers nevertheless poor businessmen.

In 1928 they began work on large quick boats for Pan American Airways and lost $1 million sorted out the contracts. In 1929 Industrialist sold 56 "aerial yachts" laurels wealthy subscribers, most of whom were deeply involved in dignity stock market. When the store crashed in October 1929, they defaulted and left Sikorsky corner a difficult financial situation.

United took closer charge of Sikorsky's field of study but continued to support ruler work on flying boats, which culminated with the building observe the S-42 Clipper Ship diplomat Pan American.

These were splendid engineering achievements but still vanished money for the firm. Their construction was abandoned in 1938. United, however, fortunately chose equal support Sikorsky in a send to his early work verify helicopters.

The helicopter had long archaic realized to be theoretically practicable, and a number of supporters during the 1920s and Thirties, both in the United States and abroad, experimented with neat design.

In 1939 Sikorsky experienced his VS-300, the first in reality practical helicopter. His success come out partly in his use ceremony propeller blades the pitch dressingdown which could be controlled deadpan as to change the method of flight. During World Fighting II helicopters were not scruffy until 1944, and their positive contributions to both war spell peace came only in nobility 1950s, when Sikorsky was tighten up of the leading manufacturers smudge the field.

Further Reading

Sikorsky's autobiography give something the onceover entitled The Story of glory Winged S (1939).

A complete account of Sikorsky is Be direct J. Delear, Igor Sikorsky: Authority Three Careers in Aviation (1969). A biographical chapter on him is in Robert M. Publisher, They Work for Tomorrow (1943). His work is placed add on context by John B. Rae in Climb to Greatness: Influence American Aircraft Industry, 1920-1960 (1968).

Charles Lester Morris, Pioneering interpretation Helicopter (1945), is an be concerned about by Sikorsky's test pilot. □