Igor Sikorsky United States in 1919, Sikorsky founded the Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation in 1923, and developed the first of Pan American Airways' ocean-conquering flying boats in the 1930s. In 1939, Sikorsky designed and flew the Vought-Sikorsky VS-300, the first viable American helicopter, which pioneered the rotor configuration used by most helicopters today. Sikorsky modified the design into the Sikorsky R-4, which became the world's first mass-produced helicopter in 1942. Igor Sikorsky was born in Kiev, Russian Empire (in present-day Ukraine), the youngest of five children. His father, Ivan Alexeevich Sikorsky, was a professor of psychology of Kiev St. Vladimir University, a psychiatrist
Igor Sikorsky designed the first heavy bomber for Russia. In 2013, "Flying" magazine ranked Sikorsky number 12 on its list of the 51 Heroes of Aviation. On March 22, 2018 the Kiev city council officially renamed Kiev airport "International Airport "Kyiv" (Zhulyany) named after Igor Sikorsky". Sikorsky was a deeply religious Russian Orthodox Christian and authored two religious and philosophical books ("The Message of the Lord's Prayer" and "The Invisible Encounter"). Summarizing his beliefs, in the latter he wrote: Igor Sikorsky Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky (, "Ígor' Ivánovič Sikórskij"; May 25, 1889 – October 26, 1972), was a Russian-American aviation pioneer in both