Sikorsky
Patent Nos. 2,318,259 and 2,318,260 Helicopter Controls
Born in Kiev, Russia in 1889, Igor Sikorsky developed an interest in science through the urging of his physician mother and his father, a psychology professor. While still a schoolboy, he built several model aircraft and helicopters.
Sikorsky was educated in Russia and Paris and first achieved international recognition in 1913 when he designed and flew the world's first successful multi-motored airplane. After the Russian Revolution, he emigrated to the United States, where he established himself as an aircraft designer. From 1925 to 1940, he created a series of increasingly successful aircraft, which gained numerous world records for speed, range and payload.
The famed Sikorsky flying "Clippers" helped pioneer transatlantic and transpacific commercial passenger services. But Sikorsky continued to pursue his passion for the helicopter and the first experimental helicopter was approved in 1938. On September 14, 1939, the VS-300 made its first flight and in January, 1941, the U.S. Army Air corps issued a contract for an observation helicopter designated the XR-4. The new aircraft flew one year later and became the world's first true production helicopter. Within months, the R-4 established the helicopter's humanitarian tradition of life-saving missions in military and civil emergencies.
On May 4, 1943, Sikorsky was granted patents covering control and stability improvements. The single rotor helicopter developed by Sikorsky represented a major breakthrough in helicopter technology. As of today, it remains the dominant configuration, used in well over 90 percent of the 75,000 helicopters estimated to have been produced to date. More than 60 additional patents were eventually granted to Sikorsky.
Sikorsky was enshrined in the Aviation Hall of Fame (1968) and received numerous awards, including the Guggenheim Medal (1951), the Royal Institute of Mechanical Engineers James Watt Medal (1955), the National Medal of Science (1967), and the Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy (1967).
Igor Sikorsky died in October, 1972.
The above information was supplied by the National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation, Inc., Room 1D01-Crystal Plaza 3, 2021 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, Virginia 22202. Videotapes and printed materials are currently available, including the National Inventors Hall of Fame Book of Inventor Profiles ($3.00).
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