Sikorsky, Igor Ivanovich, << sih KAWR skee, EE gawr ih VA nuh vyihch >> (1889-1972), an aircraft designer and manufacturer, pioneered in multiengine airplanes, helicopters, and transoceanic flying boats. He designed the world’s first four-engine aircraft in 1913. He produced a successful single-rotor helicopter in 1939 (see Helicopter (The first practical helicopters)).
Sikorsky was born on May 25, 1889, in Kyiv, Ukraine (then part of the Russian Empire). He was educated at the Petrograd Naval College and at engineering schools in Paris and Kyiv. He first attempted to build helicopters but failed because he lacked suitable engines. He then concentrated on fixed-wing aircraft and rose to prominence in Russian aviation, designing one of the most successful bombers of World War I (1914-1918). Sikorsky came to the United States in 1919. In 1923, he founded a company that produced flying boats and pioneered passenger routes in the Caribbean Sea and across the Pacific Ocean. Sikorsky then turned to the design and building of helicopters. He died on Oct. 26, 1972.
See also Airplane (Other pioneer planes and fliers).
