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Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky (, , 1889 – 26 October , 1972 ) pioneer of Aviation who designed the first four-engine Aeroplane s and the first successful Helicopter of the most common configuration (single main rotor with tail rotor). BIOGRAPHY Russian-American Igor Sikorsky was born in Kiev , Russian Empire (now Ukraine ) as the youngest of five children. Sikorsky's father was a Professor of Psychology . His mother also was a Physician but didn't work professionally. While homeschooling young Igor (until the age of nine) his mother gave him a great love for art, especially in the life and work of Leonardo Da Vinci , and the stories of Jules Verne . He started to experiment with model flying machines, and by age 12 he had made a small Rubber - Power ed Helicopter . Sikorsky studied at the Naval War College in ." With financial backing from his sister he returned to Paris the next year to study aerodynamics. Paris was then the center of aviation in Europe . Sikorsky met several French Pilots , including Louis Bleriot , the first person to Fly across the English Channel . He returned to Kiev the same year and started to experiment with flying-machines. In 1912 Igor Sikorsky became Chief Engineer in the Russian Baltic Railroad Car Factory in Saint Petersburg . In 1914 he was awarded the Degree in Engineering "Honoris Causa" by St. Petersburg Polytechnic Institute . His S-6-B airplane won a small order from the Russian Army . Other early work included the construction, as Chief Engineer , of the first Four - Motor Aircraft , the Bolshoi Baltiski. He was also the Test Pilot for its first flight, on 13th May , 1913 . Sikorsky's planes were used by Russia as Bombers in World War I (see '' Ilya Muromets '') and he was decorated with the Cross Of St. Vladimir . After the World War I he briefly became a Engineer for the French forces in Russia during the Russian Civil War , that ended with the Armistice . 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 in 1919 . In the U.S., Sikorsky first worked as a school teacher and a lecturer looking for an opportunity in aviation industry. In 1923 , helped by several former Russian army officers, he formed the Sikorsky Aero Engineering Company . In 1928 , he became a Naturalized Citizen of the United States. In 1929 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 Boat s such as the S-42 , used by Pan Am for trans-atlantic flights and known as ''Pan Am Clippers''. Sikorsky had experimented with helicopter-type flying machines while in Russia. He brought his work to fruition on 14th September , 1939 with the first flight of the Vought-Sikorsky 300 , a machine with a single three-blade rotor powered by a 75 Horsepower (56 kW) engine. Its first free (untethered) flight was on 13th May , 1940 . This was not, in the history of aviation, the first successful helicopter to fly but it was the first of the configuration that would later become the most popular. Another one of his helicopters is the Sikorsky Seahawk. The Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation continues to the present day as one of the world's leading helicopter manufacturers. FURTHER READING
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