“Igor Sikorsky (May 25, 1889 – October 26, 1972), born Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky was a Russian American pioneer of aviation in both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. He designed and flew the world's first multi-engine fixed-wing aircraft, the Russky Vityaz in 1913, and the first airliner, Ilya Muromets, in 1914. After immigrating to the United States in 1919, Sikorsky founded the Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation in 1923, and developed the first of Pan American Airways' ocean-conquering flying boats in the 1930s. In 1939 Sikorsky designed and flew the Vought-Sikorsky VS-300, the first viable American helicopter, which pioneered the rotor configuration used by most helicopters today. Sikorsky would modify the design into the Sikorsky R-4, which became the world's first mass-produced helicopter in 1942”. – Wikipedia
The Russian Russky Vityaz, built by Igor Sikorsky (right). The Sikorsky Russky Vityaz (Russian: Русский витязь), or Russian Knight, also called Le Grand, was the first four-engine aircraft in the world, designed by Igor Sikorsky and built at the Russian Baltic Railroad Car Works (Russo-Baltiiskyi Vagonnyi Zavod or R-BVZ), in early 1913. Sikorsky conceived the S-21 design in 1911, when no known aircraft could lift more than 600 kilograms. The carrying capacity record belonged to a French pilot Ducis, who had flown 800 meters with a load of 600 kg. On hearing about the ongoing construction of the Russky Vityaz in the early spring of 1913, the experts and the media around the world were predicting its complete failure. However, the first aerial test of the Russky Vityaz on 10 May 1913 was successful. At the time, many people in other parts of the world considered it to be a newspaper hoax, and did not believe it. Observers believed that an aircraft with such dimensions would never leave the ground. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images). 1915
Captain Rene Fonck (left) inspecting the three-engined biplane which Igor Sikorsky (right) is designing for his attempt on the Atlantic. (Photo by General Photographic Agency/Getty Images). Circa 1925
Igor Sikorsky (far right) and Captain Rene Fonck (2nd from right) prior to his attempt to fly from New York to Paris in a three engined Sikorsky. The plane was christened by the mayor of New York (4th from left). The plane crashed on takeoff at Roosevelt Field on 21st September, killing two crew members. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images). 21st September 1926
Captain Rene Fonck's Sikorsky S-35 in flames after crashing on take off at Roosevelt Airfield, New York. Fonck survived the crash. (Photo by General Photographic Agency/Getty Images). 21st September 1926
Captain and Mrs. Francis Francis (formerly actress Sunny Jarman) arriving at Heston airport in their Sikorsky Amphibian, “Blue Falcon” during a world tour. (Photo by J. A. Hampton/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images). 23rd August 1932
The crew of the American flying boat Sikorsky S-42 “Clipper III” being rowed ashore, on their arrival at Southampton, after their flight from Foynes, Ireland. The Sikorsky S-42 was an 1930s commercial flying boat designed and built by Sikorsky Aircraft to meet a 1931 requirement from Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) for a long-range transatlantic flying boat. Based on the earlier Sikorsky S-40 that flew in 1931, Igor Sikorsky and Charles Lindbergh (who was working at the time as a consultant to Pan American Airways) laid out plans for a new, larger flying boat. During the S-40's inaugural flight on November 19, 1931, the two visionaries began preliminary sketches on the back of a menu in the S-40's lounge. Pan Am's president, Juan Trippe, had a similar vision of an aircraft able to span oceans. The new design provided for an increased lifting capacity to carry enough fuel for a 2,500 mi (4,000 km) nonstop flight against a 30 mph (48 km/h) wind, at a cruising speed far in excess of the average operating speed of any flying boat at that time. Pan Am was also courted by Glenn Martin, but Sikorsky's S-42 was delivered first, as the Martin M-130 was still almost a year away from completion. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images). 8th July 1937
A Church Army canteen worker handing a cup of tea to the pilot of a Sikorsky R-4 helicopter hovering overhead at an RAF Helicopter School in Andover. The Sikorsky R-4 was a two-place helicopter designed by Igor Sikorsky with a single, three-bladed main rotor and powered by a radial engine. The R-4 was the world's first large-scale mass-produced helicopter and the first helicopter to enter service with the United States Army Air Forces, Navy, and Coast Guard, as well as for the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force and Royal Navy. The XR-4 exceeded all the previous helicopter endurance, altitude and airspeed records that had been set before it. The XR-4 completed a 761-mile (1,225 km) cross country flight from Connecticut to Wright Field, Ohio, set a service ceiling of 12,000 feet (3,700 m), 100 flight hours without a major incident, and an airspeed approaching 90 mph (140 km/h). (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images). Circa 1945
Igor Sikorsky, far right, helicopter designer, standing by one of his designs. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images). Circa 1946
Westland Sikorsky H-5's, used by British European Airways Helicopters, which fly between London and Birmingham. The Sikorsky H-5, (aka R-5, S-51, HO3S-1, or Horse) (R-5 until 1948; company designation VS-327) is a helicopter built by Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, formerly used by the United States Air Force, and its predecessor, the United States Army Air Forces, as well as the United States Navy and United States Coast Guard (with the designations HO2S and HO3S). (Photo by Harrison /Topical Press Agency/Getty Images). 22nd May 1951
Sheep on Exmoor near Minehead no longer risk starvation following the work by the RAF air rescue Sikorsky S-55 (Westland Whirlwind) helicopter in delivering bales of hay to where they are situated on the moors. Villages seen here have helped load the hay into the aircraft. The Sikorsky H-19 Chickasaw, (also known by its Sikorsky model number, S-55) was a multi-purpose helicopter used by the United States Army and United States Air Force. It was also license-built by Westland Aircraft as the Westland Whirlwind in the United Kingdom. United States Navy and United States Coast Guard models were designated HO4S, while those of the U.S. Marine Corps were designated HRS. In 1962, the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Marine Corps versions were all redesignated as H-19s like their U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force counterparts. The H-19's first flight was on November 10, 1949 and it entered operations in 1950. Over 1,000 of the helicopters were manufactured by Sikorsky for the United States. An additional 550 were manufactured by licensees of the helicopter including Westland Aircraft, the Société nationale des constructions aéronautiques du sud-est (SNCASE) in France and Mitsubishi in Japan. The helicopter was widely exported, used by many other nations, including Portugal, Greece, Israel, Chile, South Africa, Denmark and Turkey. The Soviet Mi-4 was a direct response to the H-19. While the Mi-4 superficially resembles the H-19, it is larger and able to lift more weight. The first model entered service in 1952. Its successor, the Mi-8 would become the world's most-produced helicopter. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images). 8th January 1963
US marine troops find themselves waist-high in swampy fields, as they jump from Sikorsky S-55 helicopters which have carried them into action against the Viet Cong. Over 400 troops took part in the raid to clean out a Viet Cong position. The white smoke is from a phosphorous rocket used as a landing marker by an observation “Bird Dog” plane. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
A BEA Sikorsky 61N helicopter flying a section of a gas mains pipeline to Langney Marshes. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images). 1966
Air Cavalry being moved from Command Post Stud to Khe Sanh landing zone using a Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane. The Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane is an American twin-engine heavy-lift helicopter. It is the civil version of the United States Army's CH-54 Tarhe. The Sikorsky S-64 was designed as an enlarged version of the prototype flying crane helicopter, the Sikorsky S-60. The S-64 had a six-blade main rotor and was powered by two 4,050 shaft horsepower (3,020 kW) Pratt & Whitney JFTD12A turboshaft engines. (Photo by Express Newspapers/Getty Images). 1968
Two battle modified US Sikorsky S-61 helicopters being refuelled in mid-air over Vietnam. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images). 22nd January 1969
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