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-18 leave the ground. Sikorsky S-18 The Sikorsky S-18 was a Russian twin engine aircraft designed by Igor Sikorsky and built by the Russian Baltic Railroad Car Works aviation division at Petrograd during World War I. The S-18 was a large three bay biplane fighter/interceptor powered by two Sunbeam Crusader V-8 water-cooled engines mounted on the lower wing in a pusher configuration. The aircraft featured armor protection for both crew members with the gunner/observer seated in the nose and armed with a single machine gun. The aircraft was very heavy and with the less than reliable Sunbeam engines neither example built