IGOR SIKORSKY was born in Kiev on May 25, 1889, the son of Professor Ivan Sikorsky and his doctor wife, Zinaida. She taught him about the experiments of Leonardo da Vinci, and by the time he was 12, young Igor had built and flown a rubber-powered model helicopter. He left school in 1908 and travelled to Paris a trip financed by his aunt - where he met most of the pioneers. On returning to Kiev he built a prototype helicopter powered by an Anzani engine he had bought in Paris. The helicopter did not fly, and Sikorsky turned his attentions to fixed-wing aircraft until technology caught up with his vision.

Sikorsky's first fixed-wing designs were none too successful, but his sixth was able to fly at over 60 mph with four passengers, and won a cash prize at the 1912 St Petersburg military competition.

Following the competition he was appointed chief engineer at the new aviation department of the Russo-Baltic Wagon Works, where he designed the Le Grand, at that time the biggest aeroplane in the world. Originally fitted with two 100 h.p. Argus engines, it first flew on March 2, 1913. It was rebuilt with four engines to become the world's first four-engined reconnaissance and bomber type for the Imperial Russian Army, known as the Il'ya Maremets, a total of 50 of which were built.

Following the Revolution in 1917, Sikorsky fled Russia, leaving behind his daughter who was eventually to join him, his wife, who was killed, and his fortune. He went briefly to London and then to Paris, where the French government commissioned him to design a new four-engined bomber. Five examples were ordered, but the project was axed immediately after the Armistice in November 1918. Early the following year, Sikorsky left Europe for the USA with less than £100 in his pocket and tried to obtain a job in aviation, but failed. After several years of hard work he formed the Sikorsky Aero Engineering Corporation in 1923 and started to build the S-29A, a twin-engined freight and passenger airplane, which was finished after the composer Rachmaninoff gave Sikorsky $5,000. The S-29A established Sikorsky as a designer in the USA, but was eventually destroyed in a crash during the filming of Hell's Angels.

During the Twenties and Thirties the Sikorsky company produced a series of successful commercial aircraft, many of which were flying-boats or amphibians. These included the twin-engined S-38, the four-engined S-40 and the S-42 - the last two both adopted as Pan American Clippers on the airline's Atlantic and Pacific routes.
In 1939, Sikorsky's company merged with Vought, becoming the Vought-Sikorsky division of United Aircraft.

Sikorsky's first love was still the helicopter, and in September 1939 he started to test the VS-300, the first successful single-rotor helicopter. This led to the VS-316, which become the R-4/Hoverfly in American and British military service. He split from Vought in 1943 and continued working on more, improved helicopter designs, including the S-51/Dragonfly which was built under licence by Westland and began a partnership that produced the S-55/Whirlwind, S-58/Wessex and S-61/Sea King. Additionally, Sikorsky in the USA produced a wide variety of very successful helicopters including the S-64 Skycrane and S-70 Blackhawk.
Igor Sikorsky survived into his early eighties, dying in 1972, and was able to see the helicopter evolve from an occasionally successful experimental craft to an important and versatile means of transport used for everything from moving passengers and troops to fighting forest fires, evacuating casualties and providing close battlefield support.

Igor insisted on test-flying the VS300-risking his neck with every flight

Click on the image to download a free paper doll of Igor.. * inches high-800 kb each