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Childhood and early years
As a schoolboy, he built several model aircraft and helicopters.
He studied in Russia and in Paris, France.
In the early 1900s, he started his work on designing a helicopter. The first two attempts failed in 1909 and 1910 as they never left the ground so he halted and turned to fixed wing aircraft till the 1930s. During that time, with financial help from his sister, he built the first four engine plane in 1913.
He was the one that built the first multi-engine aircraft. -
He was born in Kiev, Ukraine, on May 25th, 1889.
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Emigration
The Russian Revolution in 1917, slowed down his career. Therefore he moved to France to build bombers for the War. Two years later he went to United Sates and began teaching mathematics there. He worked day and night and saved enough money to establish his own aviation company , the Sirosky Aero Engineering Corporation, in the Long Island in 1923. The company did pretty well but Sirosky was dreaming big. -
He started his own aeronautical company, the Sikorsky Aero Engineering Corporation
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Father of the first helicopter
All this time his dream of building a helicopter had just grown bigger and he never stopped jotting down his designs and ideas. He patented a few of them as well. By 1939 his dream came true and he achieved his goal. Igor Sikorsky finally completed VS-300 and piloted its first flight himself. It proved to be the most successful Helicopter of the United States. By 1940, VS-300 served as the model for all single rotor helicopters. -
Died at the age of 83 on October 26th, 1972 at his home in East Connecticut.
Igor’s work contributed enormously in the aviation industry and he was recognized for it. He won many awards such as the National Medal of Science and the Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy. His name was also inducted in the Aviation Hall of Fame and International Aerospace Hall of Fame. These are just a number of recognitions that he received. He published books like “The Message of the Lord’s Prayer” and “The Invisible Encounter” before he retired from his work 1957.