Igor Sikorsky

Igor Sikorsky was born on May 25, 1889 in Kiev. His father was a professor of psychology and his mother was a physician. He was home-schooled until nine years old, during which he had made a rubber-powered helicopter. From 1903-1906 and 1907-1909 Sikorsky studied at the Naval War College, in St. Petersburg. He studied engineering in Paris from 1906-1907. A turning point in his life came when he say the Wright plane in Germany he decided to study aviation.

Sikorsky returned to Paris where he studied at ESTACA, later that year he had returned to Kiev and started to experiment with aerodynamics. In 1914, Saint Petersburg Polytechnical Institute awarded Sikorsky an honorary degree in Engineering. He was also the chief engineer of the first four-engine plane, and his Russia ordered a small number of his S-6-B aircrafts. After WWI he became an engineer for the French in Russia. In 1919, He left Europe because of the wars and the Civil War occurring in Russia for the United States.

Not long after entering the United States he formed the Sikorsky Aero Engineering Company. After he became a naturalized citizen his company was bought by United Aircraft. Some of the best work he did was in experimenting with helicopters. His work came to a height on May 13, 1940 when his first single blade, 75 horsepower, helicopter took flight. It was called the Sikorsky 300. It helped create a world standard of using a single rotor. He died on October 26, 1972 in Connecticut.

References:

http://www.sikorskyarchives.com/index.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igor_Sikorsky

VS300:

http://www.fiddlersgreen.net/AC/aircraft/Sikorsky-VS300/Igor-VS300.jpg

Picture of Sikorsky:

http://www.fiddlersgreen.net/AC/aircraft/Sikorsky-VS300/Igor-Sikorsky.jpg