Igor Ivanovich  SIKORSKY

Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky was born on May 25, 1889, in Kiev, then part of the Russian Empire. From an early age, he displayed a keen interest in aviation and mechanics. His father, Ivan Sikorsky, was a professor of psychology, and his mother, Mariya Dolmatova, came from a well-educated family.

In 1903, at the age of 14, Sikorsky witnessed the flights of the Wright brothers and became enamored with the idea of aviation. He began studying at the Naval Academy in St. Petersburg, but his passion for aviation led him to transfer to the Mechanical College of the Russian Naval War College. He later attended the Paris Technical School and the St. Petersburg Polytechnic Institute.

Sikorsky's early career in aviation was marked by his interest in helicopter design. In 1909, he built and flew the first four-engine aircraft, the Russky Vityaz. This early success established Sikorsky as a prominent aeronautical engineer. Over the next few years, he continued to experiment with various aircraft

16 February 1946: The Sikorsky S-51 prototype, NX92800, made its first flight. The test pilot was Dimitry D. (“Jimmy”) Viner, who later made the first civilian rescue using a helicopter. The S-51 was the first helicopter intended for commercial use, though it was also widely used by military services worldwide. (The prototype was later delivered to Aéronavale, French Naval Aviation.) thisdayinaviation.com