IGOR SIKORSKY

Apart from the creators of the powered airplane, Wright Brothers, many people
made contributions to the perfection of the vertical flight -- between 1907 and
1942.
The first among them was Igor Sikorsky.
So I’d like to tell you brief biography of this famous inventor
 Igor Sikorsky, the father of helicopters, was born on May 25, 1889
 He was given this title not because he invented the helicopter but because
his designs were pioneering
 Igor developed interest in natural sciences during a conversation he had with
his father while traveling to Germany
His interest encouraged him to work on experimenting with model flying machines
and at the young age of 12, he had already made a small rubber band helicopter.
 In 1907, he got himself enrolled at the Mechanical College of Kiev
Polytechnic Institute
 A year later, on another trip to Germany with his father, he found out about
the accomplishments of the Wright Brothers Flyer
 That was a turning point in his life, as he decided to take up aviation
Igor received his education from Saint Petersburg Imperial Russian Naval
Academy but his interest in engineering drove him to leave that place and move
to Paris.
 In the early 1900s, he started his work on designing a helicopter
 The first two attempts failed consecutively in 1909 and 1910, as they never
left ground
 Finally, with financial help from his sister, Igor built the first four engine
planes in 1913
 He also won an award in the 1912 Moscow Aviation Exhibition
 His successes promoted him to be appointed as the head of aviation of
Russian Baltic Railroad Car Works
 The Russian Revolution in 1917 slowed down his career
 Therefore, he moved to France to build bombers for the war
 Two years later, he went to the United Sates and began teaching
mathematics there
 All this time, his dream of building a helicopter had just grown bigger and
he never stopped jotting down his designs and ideas
  It was in 1939 when Sikorsky completed the VS-300 and piloted its first
flight himself, and that proved to be the most successful helicopter with
practical use.
 Sikorsky died on October 26, 1972 -- aged 83.
By 1940, VS-300 served as the model for all single rotor helicopters. For many years
the name of Mr. Helicopter, the name given to Igor Sikorsky, so wide-known in the
world, was concealed at home. Information ice began to break in the late eighties: the
mass media showed interest in the personality of Igor Sikorsky, the books were
published about him. In 1998, KPI renowned a designer by opening a plaque. It
graced the building of the former research workshops, where the former student of the
institute shed a lot of working sweat. It was also opened the State Polytechnic
Museum of Ukraine. On campus the graduates constructed the world's first monument
to famous designer. At the foot Ukrainian honored sculptor Nikolay Olejnik stamped
the words of Igor Sikorsky said by him at the end of his life: " Hats off to alma mater,
which prepared me to conquer the sky ». So great compatriot returns home to his
native Kyiv, to his alma mater to inspire new generations of KPI students to
implement fantastic dreams.