Sikorsky, Igor Ivanovich
From The Encyclopedia of Earth
August 18, 2006, 5:06 pm
Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky (1889–1972), a Russian-American aeronautical engineer who built and flew the first multi-motored plane in 1913. In 1941, he established the world’s endurance record for a sustained flight in a helicopter of his own design. Upon emigrating from Bolshevik Russia after the Revolution, Sikorsky founded several aviation companies in the United States that solidified the aviation industry with the introduction of amphibian and long-distance airplane models. The Sikorsky Aeronautical Division built a number of successful helicopter designs for the Korean and Vietnam Wars, as well for as peaceful uses such as rescue missions, transporting airmail and passengers, dusting crops, fighting forest fires, and hauling cargo.
