Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky, was a Russian American aviation pioneer in both
helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. He designed and flew the world's first
multi-engine fixed-wing aircraft, the Russky Vityaz in 1913, and the first
airliner, Ilya Muromets, in 1914. After immigrating to the United States
in 1919, Sikorsky founded the Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation in 1923, and
developed the first of Pan American Airways' ocean-conquering flying boats
in the 1930s. In 1939 Sikorsky designed and flew the
Vought-Sikorsky VS-300, the first viable American helicopter, which pioneered the
rotor configuration used by most helicopters today. Sikorsky modified the
design into the Sikorsky R-4, which became the world's first mass-produced
helicopter in 1942. Early life
Igor Sikorsky was born in Kiev, Russian Empire, the youngest of five children.
His father, Ivan Alexeevich Sikorsky, had a Russian and noble Polish family
background. A professor of psychology, Ivan was the son and grandson of Russian
Orthodox priests and held monarchist and Russian nationalist views. Igor Sikorsky
was Russian Orthodox Christian. Following the Russian Revolution,
Sikorsky became a White emigre and opposed Soviet rule.
Igor Sikorsky's mother, Mariya Stefanovna Sikorskaya, was a physician
who did not work professionally. She is sometimes called Zinaida Sikorsky. While
homeschooling young Igor, she gave him a great love for art, especially in the
life and work of Leonardo da Vinci, and the stories of Jules Verne. In 1900, at
age 11, he accompanied his father to Germany and through conversations with
his father, became interested in natural sciences. After returning home, Sikorsky
began to experiment with model flying machines, and by age 12, he had made a
small rubber band-powered helicopter. Sikorsky began studying at the Saint
Petersburg Imperial Russian Naval Academy, in 1903, at the age of 14. In
1906, he determined that his future lay in engineering, so he resigned from the
Academy, despite his satisfactory standing, and left the Russian Empire to
study in Paris. He returned to Russia in 1907, enrolling at the Mechanical
College of the Kiev Polytechnic Institute. After the academic year,
Sikorsky again accompanied his father to Germany in the summer of 1908, where he
learned of the accomplishments of the Wright brothers' Flyer and Ferdinand von
Zeppelin's dirigible. Sikorsky later said about this event: "Within
twenty-four hours, I decided to change my life's work. I would study aviation."
Aircraft designer With financial backing from his sister
Olga, Sikorsky returned to Paris in 1909 to study aeronautics in the
world-renowned Ecole des Techniques Aéronautiques et de Construction
Automobile in Paris engineering school and to purchase aircraft parts. At the
time, Paris was the center of the aviation world. Sikorsky met with
aviation pioneers, to ask them questions about aircraft and flying. In May 1909,
he returned to Russia and began designing his first helicopter, which he
began testing in July 1909. Despite his progress in solving technical problems
of control, Sikorsky realized that the aircraft would never fly. He finally
disassembled the aircraft in October 1909, after he determined that he could
learn nothing more from the design. I had learned enough to recognize that
with the existing state of the art, engines, materials, and – most of all –
the shortage of money and lack of experience... I would not be able to
produce a successful helicopter at that time.
Sikorsky's first aircraft of his own design, the S-1 used an 15 hp Anzani
engine, that could not lift the aircraft. His second 25 hp Anzani model
S-2 flew on June 16, 1910 at a height of a few feet. Later, Sikorsky built the
two-seat S-5, his first design not based on other European aircraft. Flying this
original aircraft, Sikorsky earned his pilot license; Fédération Aéronautique
Internationale license No. 64 issued by the Imperial Aero Club of Russia in
1911. During a demonstration of the S-5, the engine quit and Sikorsky was forced
to make a crash landing to avoid a wall. It was discovered that a mosquito in the
gasoline had been drawn into the carburetor, starving the engine of fuel.
The close call convinced Sikorsky of the need for an aircraft that could continue
flying if it lost an engine. His next aircraft, the S-6 held three passengers
and was selected as the winner of the Moscow aircraft exhibition held by the
Russian Army in February 1912. In early 1912, Igor Sikorsky became
Chief Engineer of the aircraft division for the Russian Baltic Railroad Car
Works in Saint Petersburg. His work at R-BVZ included the construction of the
first four-engine aircraft, the S-21 Russky Vityaz, which he initially called
Le Grand when fitted with just two engines, then as the Bolshoi Baltisky
when fitted with four engines for the first time, each wing panel's pair of
powerplants in a "push-pull" tandem configuration previous to the four
tractor-engined Russki Vityaz. He also served as the test pilot for its first
flight on May 13, 1913. In recognition for his accomplishment, he was awarded
an honorary degree in engineering from Saint Petersburg Polytechnical Institute
in 1914. Sikorsky took the experience from building the Russky Vityaz to
develop the S-22 Ilya Muromets airliner. Due to outbreak of World War I, he
redesigned it as the world's first four-engined bomber, for which he was
decorated with the Order of St. Vladimir.
After World War I, Igor Sikorsky briefly became an engineer for the French forces
in Russia, during the Russian Civil War. 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 immigrated to the United States,
arriving in New York on March 30, 1919. = List of aircraft designed by Sikorsky=
S-6 – Three-passenger plane – 1912 S-21 Russky Vityaz Four-engine biplane –
1913 S-22 Ilya Muromets Four-engine biplane –
1913 S-29 Twin-engine Biplane - 1924
S-42 Clipper – Flying Boat – 1934 VS-300 Experimental Prototype Helicopter
– 1939 VS-44 Excambian flying boat – 1942
R-4 World's first production helicopter – 1942
Life in the United States In the United States, Sikorsky first
worked as a school teacher and a lecturer, while looking for an
opportunity to work in the aviation industry. In 1932, he joined the faculty
of the University of Rhode Island to form an Aeronautical Engineering program
and remained with the University until 1948. He also lectured at the University
of Bridgeport. In 1923, Sikorsky formed the Sikorsky
Manufacturing Company in Roosevelt, New York. He was helped by several former
Russian military officers. Among Sikorsky's chief supporters was composer
Sergei Rachmaninoff, who introduced himself by writing a check for US$5,000.
Although his prototype was damaged in its first test flight, Sikorsky
persuaded his reluctant backers to invest another $2,500. With the
additional funds, he produced the S-29, one of the first twin-engine aircraft in
America, with a capacity for 14 passengers and a speed of 115 mph. The
performance of the S-29, slow compared to military aircraft of 1918, proved to
be a "make or break" moment for Sikorsky's funding.
In 1928, Sikorsky became a naturalized citizen of the United States. The
Sikorsky Manufacturing Company moved to Stratford, Connecticut in 1929. It
became a part of the United Aircraft and Transport Corporation in July of that
year. The company manufactured flying boats, such as the S-42 "Clipper", used
by Pan Am for transatlantic flights. Meanwhile, Sikorsky also continued his
earlier work on vertical flight while living in Nichols, Connecticut. On
February 14, 1929, he filed an application to patent a "direct lift"
amphibian aircraft which used compressed air to power a direct lift "propeller"
and two smaller propellers for thrust. On June 27, 1931, Sikorsky filed for a
patent for another "direct lift aircraft", and was awarded patent
#1,994,488 on March 19, 1935. His design plans eventually culminated in the first
flight of the Vought-Sikorsky VS-300 on September 14, 1939, with the first free
flight occurring eight months later on May 24, 1940. Sikorsky's success with
the VS-300 led to the R-4, which became the world's first mass-produced
helicopter in 1942. Sikorsky's final VS-300 rotor configuration, comprising a
single main rotor and a single antitorque tail rotor, has proven to be
one of the most popular helicopter configurations, being used in most
helicopters produced today. Igor Sikorsky was also on the Board of
Directors for the Tolstoy Foundation Center in Valley Cottage, New York.
Family Sikorsky was married to Olga Fyodorovna
Simkovitch in Russia. They were divorced and Olga remained in Russia with their
daughter, Tania, as Sikorsky departed ahead of the October Revolution. In
1923, Sikorsky's sisters immigrated to the United States, bringing six-year-old
Tania with them. Sikorsky married Elisabeth Semion in 1924, in New York.
Sikorsky and Elisabeth had four sons; Sergei, Nikolai, Igor Jr. and George.
Tania Sikorsky von York, Sikorsky's eldest child and only daughter. Tania
was born in Kiev, Ukrainian People's Republic, eventually part of the Soviet
Union. Educated in the United States, she earned a B.A. at Barnard College and
a doctorate at Yale University. She was one of the original faculty members of
Sacred Heart University in Bridgeport, Connecticut, where she served as
Professor of Sociology for 20 years. Sergei Sikorsky, Sikorsky's eldest son.
Sergei served in the United States Coast Guard, and later earned a degree from
the University of Florence. He joined United Technologies in 1951, and retired
in 1992, as Vice-President of Special Projects at Sikorsky Aircraft.
Igor Sikorsky Jr. is an attorney, businessman and aviation historian.
Nickolai Sikorsky His grandson, Igor Sikorsky III, is also
a pilot, and, together with his wife Karen, owns and operates Bradford Camps
on Munsungan Lake in remote northern Maine.
Death and legacy Sikorsky died at his home in Easton,
Connecticut, on October 26, 1972, and is buried in Saint John the Baptist Russian
Orthodox Cemetery located on Nichols Avenue in Stratford.
The Sikorsky Memorial Bridge, which carries the Merritt Parkway across the
Housatonic River next to the Sikorsky corporate headquarters, is named for
him. Sikorsky has been designated a Connecticut Aviation Pioneer by the
Connecticut 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 Memorial Airport. Sikorsky was inducted into the National
Inventors Hall of Fame and the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame
in 1987. In October 2011, one of the streets in
Kiev was renamed after Sikorsky. The decision was made by the City Council at
the request of the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, which opened its new office in
that street. The Sikorsky's family house in the city's historical center is
preserved to this day but is in a neglected condition pending restoration.
In November 2012, one of the Russian supersonic heavy strategic bomber
Tu-160, based at the Engels-2 Air Force Base, was named after Igor Sikorsky,
that caused controversy among air base crew members. One of the officers said
that Igor Sikorsky doesn't deserve it because he laid the foundations of the
U.S., rather than Russian aviation. However, the Long Range Aviation command
officer said that Igor Sikorsky is not responsible for the activities of his
military aircraft. In 2013, Flying magazine ranked Sikorsky number 12 on
its list of the 51 Heroes of Aviation. Philosophical and religious views
Sikorsky was a deeply religious Russian Orthodox Christian and authored two
religious and philosophical books. Summarizing his beliefs, in the latter
he wrote: Our concerns sink into insignificance
when compared with the eternal value of human personality – a potential child of
God which is destined to triumph over life, pain, and death. No one can take
this sublime meaning of life away from us, and this is the one thing that
matters. Published works
Sikorsky, Igor Ivan. The Message of the Lord's Prayer. New York: C. Scribner's
sons, 1942. OCLC 2928920 Sikorsky, Igor Ivan. The Invisible
Encounter. New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1947. OCLC 1446225
Sikorsky, Igor Ivan. The Story of the Winged-S: Late Developments and Recent
Photographs of the Helicopter, an Autobiography. New York: Dodd, Mead,
1967. OCLC 1396277 See also
Aerosani – Sikorsky built some of these propeller-powered sleighs in 1909–10.
Il'ya Muromets – Second four-engine aircraft designed by Igor Sikorsky
Sikorsky Prize – A prize for human powered helicopters named in his honor.
10090 Sikorsky, an asteroid named in honor of Igor Sikorsky
Timeline of hydrogen technologies References
= Notes= = Citations=
= Bibliography= External links
U.S. Patent 1,848,389 : "Aircraft, especially aircraft of the direct lift
amphibian type and means of construction and operating the same"
U.S. Patent 1,994,488 U.S. Patent 2,318,259
U.S. Patent 2,318,260 Igor Sikorsky Aerial Russia – the
Romance of the Giant Aeroplane – early days of Igor Sikorsky online book
Igor Sikorsky article on ctheritage.org Official Sikorsky historical archives
Igor Sikorsky. Time magazine, November 16, 1953.
New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, has extensive Sikorsky
exhibits Igor Sikorsky at Everything2.com
Transatlantic Re-enactment Flight Wingless Helicopter Flies Straight Up
September 1940 Popular Mechanics article showing Sikorsky flying his first
helicopter and introducing him to the general public