Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky
He began with the construction of the then-great (1913) aircraft "Ilya Muromets" (1), the world's first fully functional four-engine machine, named after the hero of Russian mythology. He originally equipped her with a living room, stylish armchairs, a bedroom, a bathroom and a toilet. He seemed to have a presentiment that in the future a business class in passenger aviation would be created.
CV: Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky
Date of Birth: May 25, 1889 in Kyiv (Russian Empire - now Ukraine).
Date of death: October 26, 1972, Easton, Connecticut (USA)
Citizenship: Russian, American
Family status: married twice, five children
Luck: The value of Igor Sikorsky's legacy is currently estimated at around US$2 billion.
Education: St. Petersburg; Kyiv Polytechnic Institute; École des Techniques Aéronautiques et de Construction Automobile (ETACA) in Paris
An experience: Russian-Baltic Carriage Works RBVZ in St. Petersburg. Petersburg; army of tsarist Russia; affiliated with Sikorski or aviation companies created by him in the USA - Sikorsky Manufacturing Company, Sikorsky Aviation Corporation, Vought-Sikorsky Aircraft Division, Sikorsky
Additional achievements: Royal Order of St. Wlodzimierz, Guggenheim Medal (1951), commemorative award to them. Wright Brothers (1966), US National Medal of Science (1967); in addition, one of the bridges in Connecticut, a street in Kyiv and a supersonic Russian strategic bomber Tu-160 are named after him.
Interests: mountain tourism, philosophy, religion, Russian literature
However, a year later the First World War broke out and Russian aviation needed a bomber more than a luxury passenger plane. Igor Sikorsky therefore, he was one of the main aircraft designers of the Tsarist Air Force, and his design bombed German and Austrian positions. Then came the Bolshevik Revolution, from which Sikorsky had to flee, eventually landing in the United States.
There are various doubts and conflicting opinions as to whether he should be considered Russian, American, or even Ukrainian. And the Poles can get a bit of his fame, because the Sikorsky family was a Polish (albeit Orthodox) farm nobility in Volhynia during the First Republic. However, for himself, these considerations probably would not have been of great importance. Igor Sikorsky for he was a supporter of tsarism, a follower of Russian greatness, and a nationalist like his father, as well as an Orthodox practitioner and author of philosophical and religious books. He appreciated the thoughts of the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy and took care of his New York foundation.
Helicopter with eraser
He was born on May 25, 1889 in Kyiv (2) and was the fifth and youngest child of the outstanding Russian psychiatrist Ivan Sikorsky. As a child, he was fascinated by art and achievement. He was also very fond of the writings of Jules Verne. As a teenager, he built model aircraft. He was to build the first rubber-powered helicopter at the age of twelve.
Then he studied at the Naval Academy in St. Petersburg. Petersburg and at the electrical engineering faculty of the Kiev Polytechnic Institute. In 1906 he began engineering studies in France. In 1908, during his stay in Germany and air shows organized by the Wright brothers, and influenced by the work of Ferdinand von Zeppelin, he decided to devote himself to aviation. As he later recalled, "it took twenty-four hours to change his life."
It immediately became a big passion. And from the very beginning, his thoughts were most occupied with the thought of building a vertically soaring aircraft, that is, as we say today, a helicopter or a helicopter. The first two prototypes he built didn't even get off the ground. However, he did not give up, as evidenced by subsequent events, but only postponed the case until later.
In 1909 he began his studies at the renowned French university École des Techniques Aéronautiques et de Construction Automobile in Paris. Then it was the center of the aviation world. The following year, he built the first aircraft of his own design, the C-1. The first tester of this machine was himself (3), which subsequently became his habit almost for the rest of his life. In 1911-12, on the S-5 and S-6 aircraft he created, he set several Russian records, as well as several world records. He worked as a designer in the aviation department of the Russian-Baltic Carriage Works RBVZ in St. Petersburg. Petersburg.
During one of the C-5 flights, the engine suddenly stopped and Sikorski he had to make an emergency landing. When he later investigated the cause of the accident, he discovered that a mosquito had climbed into the tank and cut off the mixture supply to the carburetor. The designer concluded that, since such events could not be predicted or avoided, aircraft should be built for short-term unpowered flight and for a possible safe emergency landing.
2. House of the Sikorsky family in Kyiv - a modern look
The original version of his first big project was called Le Grand and was a twin engine prototype. Based on it, Sikorsky built the Bolshoi Baltiysk, the first four-engine design. This, in turn, served as the basis for the creation of the aforementioned C-22 Ilya Muromets aircraft, for which he was awarded the Order of St. Wlodzimierz. Together with the Pole Jerzy Jankowski (a pilot in the tsarist service), they took ten volunteers on board the Muromets and climbed to a height of 2 m. As Sikorsky recalled, the car did not lose control and balance even when people walked along the wing during the flight.
Rachmaninoff helps
After the October Revolution Sikorski for a short time he worked in the intervention units of the French army. Involvement with the white side, his earlier career in Tsarist Russia, and his social background meant that he had nothing to look for in the new Soviet reality, which could even be life-threatening.
In 1918, he and his family managed to escape from the Bolsheviks to France, and then to Canada, from where he eventually left for the United States. He changed his surname to Sikorsky. Initially, he worked as a teacher. However, he was looking for employment opportunities in the aviation industry. In 1923 he founded the Sikorsky Manufacturing Company, manufacturing marked aircraft, which continued the series started in Russia. Initially, Russian emigrants helped him, including the famous composer Sergei Rachmaninov, who wrote out a check for him for a significant sum of 5 zlotys at that time. dollars.
3. Sikorsky in his youth as an airplane pilot (left)
His first aircraft in the United States, the S-29, was one of the first twin engine projects in the United States. It could carry 14 passengers and reach speeds of almost 180 km/h. To develop the enterprise, the author collaborated with the wealthy industrialist Arnold Dickinson. Sikorsky became his deputy for design and production. Thus, Sikorsky Aviation Corporation has existed since 1928. Among the significant Sikorski products of the time was the S-42 Clipper (4) flying boat used by Pan Am for transatlantic flights.
rear rotor
In the 30s he was consistent Sikorski decided to dust off his early "motor lift" designs. He filed his first application with the US Patent Office for a design of this type in February 1929. The technology of materials was consistent with his previous ideas, and the engines, finally, with sufficient power, made it possible to provide effective rotor thrust. Our hero no longer wanted to deal with aircraft. His company became part of the United Aircraft concern, and he himself, as the technical director of one of the divisions of the company, intended to do what he had abandoned in 1908.
5. Sikorsky with his prototype helicopter in 1940.
The designer very effectively solved the problem of the emerging reactive moment that came from the main rotor. As soon as the helicopter took off from the ground, its fuselage began to turn against the rotation of the main rotor in accordance with Newton's third law. Sikorski decided to install an additional side propeller in the rear fuselage to compensate for this problem. Although this phenomenon can be overcome in many ways, it is the solution proposed by Sikorsky that is still the most common. In 1935, he patented a helicopter with main and tail rotors. Four years later, the Sikorsky plant merged with Chance Vought under the name Vought-Sikorsky Aircraft Division.
The military loves helicopters
September 14, 1939 became a historical date in the history of helicopter construction. On this day, Sikorsky made his first flight in a helicopter of the first successful design - VS-300 (S-46). However, it was still a tethered flight. The free flight took place only on May 24, 1940 (5).
The BC-300 was a prototype helicopter, more like the embryo of what was to come next, but already allowed for more than an hour and a half of flight, as well as landing on the water. Sikorsky's car made a big impression on the US military. The designer perfectly understood the needs of the military and in the same year he created a project for the XR-4 machine, the first helicopter similar to modern machines of this type.
6. One of the models of the R-4 helicopter in 1944.
7. Igor Sikorsky and helicopters
In 1942, the first aircraft ordered by the US Air Force was tested. It entered production as the R-4(6). About 150 machines of this type went to various military units, participating in rescue operations, receiving survivors and downed pilots, and later they served as training machines for pilots who were to sit at the controls of larger and more demanding helicopters. In 1943, the Vought and Sikorsky factories split again, and henceforth the latter company focused exclusively on the production of helicopters. In subsequent years, he won the American market (7).
An interesting fact is the history of the award Sikorski in the 50s, he created the first experimental helicopter that reached speeds of over 300 km/h. It turned out that the award went to ... the USSR, that is, Sikorsky's homeland. The Mi-6 helicopter built there set a number of records, including a top speed of 320 km/h.
Of course, the cars built by Sikorsky also broke records. In 1967, the S-61 became the first helicopter in history to fly non-stop across the Atlantic. In 1970, another model, the S-65 (CH-53), first flew over the Pacific Ocean. Mr. Igor himself was already retired, which he switched to in 1957. However, he still worked for his company as an advisor. He died in 1972 in Easton, Connecticut.
The most famous machine in the world today, manufactured by the Sikorsky factory, is the UH-60 Black Hawk. The S-70i Black Hawk (8) version is produced at the PZL plant in Mielec, which has been part of the Sikorsky group for several years.
In engineering and aviation Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky he was a pioneer in every way. His structures destroyed barriers that seemed unbreakable. He had a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) aircraft pilot's license number 64 and a helicopter pilot's license number 1.
