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
Sikorsky S-19 Sikorsky S-19 The Sikorsky S-19 was a Russian twin engine experimental prototype aircraft built late in 1916 by the Russian Baltic Railroad Car Works while Igor Sikorsky was chief engineer of the aircraft manufacturing division. The S-19 was a two bay sesquiplane powered by two Sunbeam Crusader water-cooled V-8 engines installed in push-pull configuration. Arranged as a twin-boom aircraft, it had a large rudder located in the center of the empenage. Two crewmembers occupied cockpits in the foreword most section of the booms in front of the lower wing and served as pilot and machine gunner. Flight testing revealed sluggish