Introduction to the life of Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky

Sikorsky was born in Kiev, Russia, the youngest of five children. His father is a psychology professor and his mother is a doctor. Sikorski's mother gave him a lot of education about art since he was a child, especially the life and works of Leonardo da Vinci and the science fiction works of Verne. Sikorski had been building model airplanes since he was a child. At the age of 12, Sikorski successfully built a rubber-band-powered helicopter.

Sikorsky studied at the Naval War College in St. Petersburg from 1903 to 1906, studied engineering in Paris from 1906 to 1907, and then studied at the Kiev Polytechnic from 1907 to 1909. . In 1908, while traveling in Germany with his father, Sikorski saw a photo of the Wright brothers and their airplane in a newspaper. Sikorsky later said, "Within 24 hours, I decided to change the purpose of my life. I wanted to learn to fly." With the support of his sister, Sikorsky interrupted his studies at the Kiev Polytechnic in 1909. Went to Paris to study aerodynamics. Paris was the aviation center of Europe at the time, and Sikorski met several famous French pilots in Paris, such as Louis Bleriot, who was the first to fly across the English Channel. In the same year, Sikorsky returned to Kyiv and began trial production of aircraft. In 1912 Sikorsky became chief engineer of the Russian Baltic Railway Rolling Stock Factory in St. Petersburg. In 1914, he received an honorary engineering degree from the St. Petersburg Polytechnic Institute. The Russian Army has ordered a small batch of its S-6-B aircraft. Sikorski was also chief engineer during the construction of the world's first four-engine aircraft, and personally flew the aircraft for the first time on May 13, 1913. In World War I, Sikorsky's aircraft were used as bombers by the Russian army, and Sikorsky was awarded the St. Vladimir's Cross badge.

During the Russian Civil War after World War I, Sikorsky worked as an engineer for the French troops in Russia. After the ceasefire of the civil war, with no hope of flying in Europe, especially Russia, which had been severely damaged by the war, Sikorski immigrated to the United States.

After arriving in the United States, Sikorski worked as a teacher and university lecturer, and has been seeking opportunities in the aviation industry. In 1923, Sikorsky established the "Sikorsky Aeronautical Engineering Company" with the help of several former Russian military officers. Sikorski became an American citizen in 1928. In 1929, Sikorsky Aeronautical Engineering Company was acquired by United Aircraft and Transportation Company (now United Technologies Corporation) and became its subsidiary. At that time, Sikorsky manufactured a large number of seaplanes, such as the famous S-42 (Pan Am Clipper), which was used by Pan Am for transatlantic flights.

Sikorsky began experimenting with helicopter-type aircraft while in Russia. The Vought-Sikorsky VS-00 helicopter made its first flight on September 14, 1939. A free flight took place on May 13, 1940. Although this was not the first successful helicopter flight in history, it was the first helicopter flight with a single-rotor tail rotor layout.