Igor Sikorsky

Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky
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Born 25 May 1889
Kiev, Russian Empire (today Ukraine)
Died 26 October 1972
Easton, Connecticut, USA
Nationality Ukrainian-American
Occupation aircraft designer
Known for first successful helicopter
Religious beliefs Orthodox
Spouse(s) Olga Fyodorovna Simkovitch
Elisabeth Semion
Children Tania, Sergei, Nikolai, Igor, George

Igor Sikorsky (25 May 1889 – 26 October 1972)[1] was born Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky (Russian: Игорь Иванович Сикорский). Sikorsky was a Ukrainian-American pioneer of aviation who designed and flew the world's first multi-engine fixed-wing aircraft, developed the first of Pan American Airways' ocean-conquering flying boats in the 1930s, and developed the first successful helicopter.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Igor Sikorsky was born, the youngest of five children, in Kiev (now the capital of Ukraine), in the Russian Empire.

Sikorsky's father, Ivan Alexeevich Sikorsky, was a professor of psychology of mixed Russian-Polish ethnicity. The Sikorsky family was of Polish szlachta origin. Ivan Alexeevich Sikorsky was a son and grandson of Russian Orthodox Church priests and held monarchist and Russian nationalist views.[2][3][4][5] [6][7]

Igor Sikorsky's mother, Mariya Stefanovna Sikorskaya (nee Temryuk-Cherkasova), who was half Ukrainian (on the paternal side) and half Russian (on the maternal side),[8][9] was a physician who did not work professionally. While homeschooling young Igor, she gave him a great love for art, especially in the life and work of Leonardo da Vinci, and the stories of Jules Verne. In 1900, at age 11, he accompanied his father to Germany and became interested in natural sciences through conversations with his father. After returning home, Sikorsky began to experiment with model flying machines, and, by age 12, he had made a small rubber band-powered helicopter.[10]

Sikorsky began studying at the Saint Petersburg Imperial Russian Naval Academy, in 1903, at the age of 14. In 1906, he determined that his future lay in engineering, so he resigned the Academy, despite his satisfactory standing, and left Russia to study in Paris. He returned to Russia in 1907, enrolling at the Mechanical College of the Kiev Polytechnic Institute. After the academic year, Sikorsky again accompanied his father to Germany in the summer of 1908, where he learned of the accomplishments of the Wright Brothers' airplane and Count von Zeppelin's dirigible.[11] Sikorsky later said about this event: "Within twenty-four hours, I decided to change my life's work. I would study aviation."

Aircraft designer

Russian aviators Sikorsky, Genner and Kaulbars aboard a "Russian Vityaz" airplane, 1915
Sikorsky Aero Engineering Company stock certificate (courtesy of Scripophily.com)

With financial backing from his sister Olga, Sikorsky returned to Paris in 1909 to study aeronautics and to purchase aircraft parts. At the time, Paris was the center of the aviation world. Sikorsky would meet with aviation pioneers, to ask them questions about aircraft and flying. In May 1909, he returned to Russia and began designing his first helicopter, which he began testing in July. Despite his progress in solving technical problems of control, Sikorsky realized that the aircraft would never fly. He finally disassembled the aircraft in October 1909, after he determined that he could learn nothing more from the design.[12]

Sikorsky built the two-seat S-5, his first design that was not based on other European aircraft. Flying this original aircraft, Sikorsky earned his pilot license; Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) license No. 64 issued by the Imperial Aero Club of Russia in 1911.[13] During a demonstration of the S-5, the engine quit and Sikorsky was forced to make a crash landing to avoid a wall. It was discovered that a mosquito had flown into the gasoline and had been drawn into the carburetor, starving the engine of fuel. The close call convinced Sikorsky of the need for an aircraft that could continue flying if it lost an engine.[14] His next aircraft, the S-6 held three passengers and was selected as the winner of the Moscow aircraft exhibition held by the Russian Army in February 1912.[15]

In Spring 1912, Igor Sikorsky became Chief Engineer of the aircraft division for the Russian Baltic Railroad Car Works (Russko-Baltiisky Vagonny Zaved or R-BVZ)[16] in Saint Petersburg.[17] In 1914, he was awarded an honorary degree in engineering from Saint Petersburg Polytechnical Institute.

Other early work included the construction, as chief engineer, of the first four-engine aircraft, the Bolshoi Baltiski, which he called Le Grand. He was also the test pilot for its first flight, on 13 May 1913. Sikorsky's planes were used by Russia as bombers in World War I — for example, the Ilya Muromets, the world's first four-engined bomber. He was decorated with the Order of St. Vladimir.

After World War I, Igor Sikorsky briefly became an engineer for the French forces in Russia during the Russian Civil War. Seeing little opportunity for himself as an aircraft designer in war-torn Europe (and particularly Russia, ravaged by the October Revolution and Civil War), he emigrated to the United States, arriving in New York on 30 March 1919.[18]

Sikorsky S-42 flying boat

Life in America

In the United States, Sikorsky first worked as a school teacher and a lecturer, while looking for an opportunity in the aviation industry. In 1923, helped by several former Russian army officers, he formed the Sikorsky Aero Engineering Company. Among Sikorsky's chief supporters was composer Sergei Rachmaninoff, who introduced himself by writing a check for $5,000 [roughly $61,000 in 2007 dollars]. Though his prototype was damaged in its first test flight, Sikorsky persuaded his reluctant backers to invest another $2,500; with it, he produced the S-29, one of the first twin-engine planes in America, with a capacity for 14 passengers and a speed of 115 mph.[19] The performance of the S-29, slow though it was compared to military aircraft of even 1918, proved to be a "make or break" moment for Sikorsky's funding.

Sikorsky Skycrane carrying a house

In 1928, Sikorsky became a naturalized citizen of the United States. The next year, Sikorsky Aero Engineering Company was purchased by, and became a subsidiary of, United Aircraft, itself now a part of United Technologies Corporation. The company manufactured flying boats, such as the S-42, used by Pan Am for trans-Atlantic flights and known as Pan Am Clippers.

Sikorsky had experimented unsuccessfully with helicopter-type flying machines while in Russia. He brought his work to fruition on 14 September 1939 with the first flight of the Vought-Sikorsky VS-300, a machine with a single three-blade rotor and three tail rotors powered by a 75 horsepower (56 kW) engine. Its first free (untethered) flight was on May 26, 1940. The VS-300 was the first successful American helicopter to fly.

Marriage and children

Sikorsky was married to Olga Fyodorovna Simkovitch in Russia. They were divorced and Olga remained in Russia with their daughter as Sikorsky departed ahead of the October Revolution. In 1923, Sikorsky's sisters emigrated to the United States, bringing six-year old Tania with them.[20] Sikorsky married Elisabeth Semion in 1924, in New York.[21] Sikorsky and Elisabeth had four sons; Sergei, Nikolai, Igor Jr., and George.

Death and legacy

Sikorsky died at his home in Easton, Connecticut, on 1972 October 26. The Sikorsky Bridge, which carries the Merritt Parkway across the Housatonic River next to the Sikorsky corporate headquarters, is named for him. Sikorsky has been designated a Connecticut Aviation Pioneer by the Connecticut State Legislature. The Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation in Stratford, Connecticut, continues to the present day as one of the world's leading helicopter manufacturers, and a nearby small airport has been named Sikorsky Airport.

Philosophical and political views

Sikorsky was a deeply religious Russian Orthodox Christian and authored two religious and philosophical books (The Message of the Lord's Prayer and The Invisible Encounter).[23]

Published works

See also

References

  1. ↑ Fortier, Rénald. Igor Sikorsky: One Man, Three Careers. 1996. Accessed on 29 October 2008.
  2. ↑ 25 мая родился в Киеве Сикорский, отец вертолета. / Статьи Д.Десятерика / Киев на кончике пера / Новый Город / Главная
  3. ↑ Domil1
  4. ↑ Русский архипелаг - Авторы - Гений полёта
  5. ↑ Русская линия / Новости / Полная сводка новостей от 14.02.2007
  6. ↑ http://www.is.svitonline.com/v_menzhulin/Vvedenie.pdf
  7. ↑ Русская линия / Новости / Сергей Сикорский молился на могиле своих славных предков
  8. ↑ VIVOS VOCO: В.Р. Михеев, "Игорь Иванович Сикорский"
  9. ↑ MAX.RU - интернет портал
  10. ↑ Woods 1979, p. 254.
  11. ↑ "Scientific Interest". The Case Files: Igor Sikorsky. Franklin Institute. Accessed on 29 October 2008.
  12. ↑ Woods 1979, p. 255.
  13. ↑ Woods 1979, p. 256.
  14. ↑ Current Biography 1940, pp. 734-36
  15. ↑ Woods 1979, p. 256.
  16. ↑ Murphy, Justin D. Military Aircraft, Origins to 1918: An Illustrated History of Their Impact. Weapons and warfare series. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2005. p. 180. ISBN 1851094881
  17. ↑ Lake, Jon (2002). The Great book of Bombers - The world's most important bombers from World War I to the present day. MBI Publishing Company. pp. 31. ISBN 0-7603-1347-4. 
  18. ↑ Woods 1979, p. 257.
  19. ↑ Id. at p. 735
  20. ↑ "Military Mission". The Case Files: Igor Sikorsky. Franklin Institute. Accessed on 29 October 2008.
  21. ↑ Hacker, Barton C., and Margaret Vining. American Military Technology: The Life Story of a Technology. Baltimore, Md: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007. p. 116. ISBN 9780801887727
  22. ↑ Foster's. "Tania Sikorsky Von York". Foster's Daily Democrat. 26 September 2008. Accessed on 16 October 2008.
  23. ↑ Русская линия / Новости / Сергей Сикорский молился на могиле своих славных предков
  • Spenser, Jay P. Whirlybirds, A History of the U.S. Helicopter Pioneers. University of Washington Press, 1998. ISBN 0295976993.
  • Woods, Carlos C. "Igor Ivan Sikorsky". Memorial Tributes. National Academy of Engineering. Washington, D.C.: The Academy, 1979. pp. 253-266. OCLC 175306676

Further reading

External links

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