SIKORSKY, Igor Ivanovich
(1889–1972), Russian-born American aeronautical engineer
and manufacturer.
Sikorsky was born in Kiev, Ukraine, and educated at the naval
college in Saint Petersburg, and in Kiev and Paris. At first he
experimented in helicopter design. In 1913 he designed, built, and
flew the first successful multiengined airplane. Later he built
military aircraft for Russia and France.
Sikorsky moved (1919) to the U.S. and later helped organize
an aircraft company that produced a series of multiengined flying
boats for commercial service. Sikorsky became an American citizen
in 1928. In the late 1930s Sikorsky returned to developing helicopters
and produced the first successful helicopter in the western hemisphere.
Sikorsky-designed helicopters were used exclusively by the U.S.
Army Air Forces during World War II.