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Table of Contents
Igor Ivan Sikorsky is an industrialist, inventor, and the pioneer in aircraft design who is best known for his successful development of the helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft.
See the fact file below for more information on the Igor Sikorsky or alternatively, you can download our 22-page Igor Sikorsky worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.
Key Facts & Information
EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION
- Sikorsky was born on May 25, 1889 at Kiev, in Ukraine and died on October 26, 1972, in Easton, Connecticut.
- He was the youngest of five children.
- His father, Ivan Alexeevich Sikorsky, was a professor of psychology of Saint Vladimir University, a psychiatrist and a Russian nationalist.
- His mother was a physician but never practiced professionally. Her interest in art and in the life and work of Leonardo da Vinci influenced her son’s interest in experimenting with model flying machines. He was homeschooled.
- At age 11, he became interested in natural sciences while travelling with his father to Germany.
- His first invention at age 12 was a small rubber band-powered helicopter that could rise in the air.
- At 14, he began studying at the Saint Petersburg Maritime Cadet Corps but his interest in engineering led to his resignation from the service in 1906.
- After briefly studying engineering in Paris, he returned to the Russian Empire in 1907, enrolling at the Mechanical College of the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute.
- After the school year, he accompanied his father’s second visit to Germany. There he learned about the accomplishments of the Wright brothers’ Flyer and Ferdinand von Zeppelin’s rigid airships.
- Before long, he went to Paris to buy an engine and other parts for his model helicopter.
EARLY INVENTIONS
- By mid-1909 Sikorsky completed his first helicopter. However, even if the counter-rotating rotors thrashed through the air, the craft never lifted off the ground.
- In June 1909, Sikorsky tried to fly his crude biplane and it rose for twelve seconds into the air.
- In the months that followed, Sikorsky produced more prototypes, with short flights ending up in crashes. This however, gave him more insight to develop.
- The Imperial Aero Club of Russia soon awarded him a pilot’s certificate after demonstrating his S-5 plane in the Russian Army maneuvers near Kiev.
- Russian Tsar Nicholas II soon viewed Sikorsky’s engineering achievement. His next plane, the S-6A received the highest award at the Moscow aircraft show.
- Sikorsky soon developed a four-engine, cabin type biplane nicknamed “Le Grand.” At the front the plane had a large open balcony. Behind the enclosed pilot’s cabin was a roomy passenger cabin.
- But with the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, Russia was involved in World War I.
- Sikorsky’s newer design, “Ilia Mourometz,” was converted into a bomber that became the backbone of the Russian aerial offensive against the Germans.
- His planes participated in over 400 raids and only one took damage from anti-aircraft fire.
SIKORSKY IN UNITED STATES
- When the Bolshevik Revolution erupted in Russia in 1917, Sikorsky left his native land, leaving behind all of his possessions and fled to Paris in the summer of 1918.
- He began to design a large bomber for the United States Army Air Service during World War I. After the armistice, Sikorsky immigrated to the United States.
- Before becoming known to many, he took temporary jobs and soon lectured on mathematics, astronomy, and aviation.
- Sikorsky then designed a twin-engine commercial airplane capable of carrying 12 to 15 passengers, the forerunner of the modern airliner.
- Russian composer, Sergei Rachmaninoff, funded his project with a $5,000 subscription. His first test flight however failed, but this did not deter him and he remodeled.
- Soon Roscoe Turner bought the plane for charter flight and airline use.
- Later he converted it into a flying cigar store.
- After his initial projects, he then decided to build a twin-engine amphibian.
- The “American Clipper” became the second of the new type of aircraft that Sikorsky contributed to aviation. His designed enabled commercial crossings of major oceans until the late 1930s.
- In 1939, Sikorsky returned to his life goal of building the first helicopter. Following modification since 1940, he established the first helicopter with the endurance record of one hour, five minutes and 14 seconds in 1941.
LIFE AND LEGACY
- He was married twice and had five children; Tania, Sergei, Nikolai, Igor Jr. and George.
- In 1966, he was inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame for his contribution to aviation.
- Sikorsky retired as engineering manager for his company in 1957 but remained active as a consultant until his death.
- He died at his home on October 26, 1972, and is buried in Saint John the Baptist Russian Orthodox Cemetery.
- On March 22, 2018 the Kiev City Council renamed Kiev International Airport to “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv International Airport Zhuliany”
Igor Sikorsky Worksheets
This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about the Igor Sikorsky across 22 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Igor Sikorsky worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Igor Ivan Sikorsky who is an industrialist, inventor, and the pioneer in aircraft design who is best known for his successful development of the helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft.
Complete List Of Included Worksheets
- Air Transports
- Aeronautic Pioneers
- Sikorsky Then and Now
- Heli-tility
- A Heli-Pilot
- Sikorsky Skin
- The Sikorsky Plane
- Presidential Heli
- Future of Helicopter
- Honing my Passion
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