Today, Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky personifies the successful development of the three most important types of modern aircraft. Large four-engine aircraft, giant flying boats and multi-purpose helicopters, which played an important role in the development of aviation, appeared thanks to the genius of the legendary aircraft designer.
Igor Sikorsky: biography
The aviation pioneer was born on May 25, 1889 in Kyiv, Ukraine (then the Russian Empire). His father, Ivan Alekseevich, was a doctor and professor of psychology. The mother also had a medical education, but she never practiced. Sikorsky Igor Ivanovich considered his nationality established - his ancestors from the time of Peter I were ministers of the Russian Orthodox Church, therefore, they were Russian. One of his earliest memories is his mother's story of Leonardo da Vinci's attempts to design a flying machine. From that moment on, the dream of flight captured his imagination, despite the fact that he was repeatedly told about the proven impossibility of this. Finally, at the age of 12, Igor Sikorsky built a model helicopter. Working on energytwisted rubber bands, the design rose into the air. Now the boy knew that his dream was not some wild fantasy.
Inspirational journey
Several years later, when Igor was vacationing in Germany with his father, he learned about the first launches of airships carried out by Count von Zeppelin. He also read about the successful flights of the Wright brothers and was amazed that the newspaper reported such a great achievement in small print on the back page. At that moment, Sikorsky decided to devote his life to aviation. His particular goal was to develop an apparatus capable of hovering over a single point or flying in any desired direction - a helicopter.
He immediately began to conduct his experiments in a small hotel room, creating a rotor and measuring its lift. Upon his return to Kyiv, Igor left the Polytechnic Institute and began extensive research in the emerging branch of science. He was not even twenty, he had great enthusiasm and many ideas, but little practical experience and money.
Aeronautics School
Soon Igor Sikorsky went to Paris to buy an engine and other parts for his helicopter. There, on the local airfield, the smell of burnt castor oil and the sight of imperfect, early model airplanes trying to fly left an indelible mark on his soul. Soon, Sikorsky entered the newly created, highly informal French school of aeronautics, although the impatient student never got a chance to take to the air. When buying a three-cylinderAnzani engine he met Louis Blériot, who was also buying an engine for his new monoplane. A few weeks later, the brave Blériot made aviation history by making the first flight across the English Channel. This historic event deeply influenced the further development of aviation.
First designs
By the middle of 1909, Igor Sikorsky completed his first helicopter. But no matter how hard its twin counter-rotating rotor sliced through the air, the machine showed no desire to budge. Sikorsky finally built a biplane and in June of that year he took it several meters into the air. For twelve whole seconds he tasted success. In the following months, Igor created other prototypes, flew them for short flights and often crashed them, which was not uncommon in the early days of aviation. But he, using undamaged parts, built the next, improved model. Sikorsky was not discouraged by the first failures, because he learned a lot about helicopters and was sure: if not the next aircraft, then the one that will be after it will take off one day.
Recognition
By the beginning of the spring of 1910, the second rotary-wing aircraft, on which Sikorsky worked tirelessly, was prepared for testing. The helicopter proved to be as stubborn as its creator. The designer's perseverance was admirable, but gradually he came to the sad conclusion that,maybe he was ahead of his time and should be building traditional planes.
During his many years of aviation career, Sikorsky never forgot his dream of building a truly successful helicopter. Soon he received a diploma as a pilot of the Imperial All-Russian Aeroclub and demonstrated his C-5 aircraft at military maneuvers near Kyiv. There the aircraft designer met Tsar Nicholas II. The next C-6A model received the highest award at an aviation show in Moscow. But a minor incident, when a mosquito clogged a fuel line and forced Sikorsky to make an emergency landing, turned out to be fateful.
"Ilya Muromets" - a giant aircraft
This case led the aircraft designer to the idea of increasing the reliability of the aircraft by using multiple engines - an extraordinary and radical concept at that time. Sikorsky proposed to build a four-engine biplane of a huge (at that time) size. The aircraft was nicknamed "Grand". In front of the aircraft was a large open balcony. A roomy passenger compartment was located behind the cockpit.
In May 1913, the aircraft designer made the first test flight on it. This flight was a moment of great personal satisfaction, as many told Sikorsky that such a huge aircraft could not fly. His faith in his ideas and determination to stick to his own convictions paid off handsomely. Tsar Nicholas II came to inspect the "Grand" and for the development of the first four-engine airplane presented the aircraft designer with engravedclock. Encouraged, Sikorsky built an even larger aircraft, called the Ilya Muromets. The aircraft had an open bridge over the fuselage where intrepid passengers could stand and enjoy the scenery below. The large ship was a sensation in military circles, and representatives of the Russian Navy came to Petrograd to inspect a copy equipped with pontoons.
World War I
After the assassination of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Russia was mired in the First World War. The Ilya Muromets was converted into a bomber that became the backbone of the Russian air offensive against the Germans. In total, the aircraft participated in more than 400 sorties, and only one was damaged by anti-aircraft fire. When in 1917 the Bolshevik revolution swept the empire, the hero of our story decided to leave the country. In the summer of 1918, Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky, whose family remained in Russia, leaving behind all personal belongings, left for Paris, where he began to design a large bomber for the air service of the United States Army. But the end of the war put an end to his work. A few months later, having emigrated to the United States, Sikorsky would fulfill the dream of his life. In the United States, he had no friends and no money. But he was inspired because he believed that in this country a person with worthwhile ideas has a chance to succeed.
American Dream
He briefly worked at McCook Field in Dayton, Ohio, helping develop the super-bomber. But at that time, aircraft construction was considereda dying industry, and the unemployed Sikorsky returned to New York. Unable to find work in aviation, he took up lecturing for Russian immigrants in mathematics and astronomy. At the same time, he visited local airfields and longingly watched other people's airplanes. Igor began lecturing on the subject of aviation and provided himself with the financial opportunity to return to his beloved work. Sikorsky designed a twin-engine commercial aircraft capable of carrying 12 to 15 passengers, the forerunner of the modern airliner.
First American
After accumulating the required amount, Sikorsky began construction of an aircraft in the barn of a poultry farm on Long Island. But there was not enough money for all the parts, and he used a lot of good parts from local junkyards. The engines were old, from World War I. Finally, the great Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff bailed out his compatriot with a $5,000 subscription. When the new aircraft was ready for its first test flight, eight assistant aircraft designers crowded on board. Igor Sikorsky knew that this was a mistake, but he could not refuse them. After a slow start, the engines failed, and Igor Ivanovich made an emergency landing, severely damaging the airplane. It seemed to be the end. But Sikorsky long ago learned not to lose heart, and a few months later he restored the aircraft under the name C-29-A. The letter "A" here stands for the word "America". The C-29-A turned out to be a surprisingly good aircraft, which ensured the financial success of the Sikorsky company. Aviator Roscoe Turner purchased the aircraft for charter andregular flights. Later, the device was even used as a flying tobacconist.
In 1926, the entire aviation world was thrilled with a $25,000 prize that was offered to the first person to make a direct flight between New York and Paris. Sikorsky was asked to build a large three-engined biplane for the French war hero René Fonck, who planned to win the prize. The crew was in a hurry with the final preparations before the end of flight tests. During the takeoff run, the overloaded aircraft ran over the embankment. In a matter of seconds, it turned into a blazing hell. Fonck miraculously escaped, but two crew members died. Almost immediately, the plucky Frenchman ordered another airplane to try for the prize a second time. But before that was built, the unknown Charles Lindbergh completed his solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean, winning the prize and admiration of millions of people.
American Clipper
And again, Sikorsky's company fought for its existence. Then he decided to build a twin-engine amphibian. The plane turned out to be very practical and reliable, and Sikorsky created a whole fleet of such aircraft. Almost immediately, Pan American Airways used the amphibians to establish new air routes to Central and South America.
Soon Sikorsky had more orders than he could handle. He reorganized his company and built a new factory in Stratford, Connecticut. A year later, the enterprise became a subsidiary of the United Aircraft Corporation. Sikorsky was offered to design a huge seaworthy transport aircraft for Pan Am, which was to become a pioneer in the field of transoceanic transportation. The majestic "American Clipper" was the second new type of aircraft created by the aircraft designer. The dimensions of the aircraft were almost twice the dimensions of other aircraft of that time. In late 1931, after Mrs. Herbert Hoover "christened" the Clipper, Charles Lindbergh made the first flight from Miami to the Panama Canal.
This large flying boat was the forerunner of a whole series of similar vehicles that paved the American air routes across all oceans. Among the best was the S-42, completed in 1934 and with excellent performance, which allowed Lindberg to set 8 world speed, range and payload records in a day! Shortly thereafter, Pan Am used the flying boat to open air links between the US and Argentina. Six months later, another Clipper took off from Alameda, California, and opened an air route to Hawaii. This was followed by other air routes across the Pacific to New Zealand. In 1937, another Clipper made the first scheduled air flight across the North Atlantic. Sikorsky's large overseas aircraft were now busy with commercial traffic across both major oceans.
A dream come true
Throughout all these successful years, aircraft designer Igor Sikorsky never forgot his desire to build a practicalhelicopter. He never thought of it as an aircraft, rather it was a dream that he wanted to realize more than anything else. In 1939, Sikorsky finally achieved his lifelong goal by developing the first real helicopter. But the apparatus presented such a completely new and complex problem that the designer had to devote himself entirely to solving it. It was a challenge that called all his intelligence, energy and love to fly. But this achievement was his chance to once again be on the verge of a new challenge that Sikorsky had dreamed of for so long. The helicopter has been the personal goal of the aircraft designer for three decades. And so, in the spring of 1939, he began to design it, using the ideas accumulated during all this time. By September, the apparatus was ready for the first tests. The machine had one main and a second small screw at the end of the tubular fuselage - to counter torque. In addition, it used a unique system for changing the angle of the main rotor blades during its rotation. In an incredibly short six-month period, one of aviation's intractable problems has been overcome.
Having made changes to the design, in 1941 Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky set the first flight duration record - 1 hour 5 minutes and 14 seconds. Two days later, the apparatus equipped with floats could already start both on land and on water. So Sikorsky made his third important contribution to aviation, embodied in the dream of a strange flying machine that would still serve humanity in an excellent way and amaze the world with its excellentmaneuverability in the air. Moreover, the helicopter will become a monument to a man with unshakable faith in a great dream and even greater faith in himself, which made it possible to achieve the goal.
Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky, whose inventions left a noticeable mark on the history of aviation, died on October 26, 1972.
