Igor Sikorsky accompanied his father to Germany and through conversations with his father, became interested in natural sciences. After returning home, Sikorsky began to experiment with model flying machines, and by age 12, he had made a small rubber band-powered helicopter. Sikorsky began studying at the Saint Petersburg Maritime Cadet Corps, in 1903, at the age of 14. In 1906, he determined that his future lay in engineering, so he resigned from the academy, despite his satisfactory standing, and left the Russian Empire to study in Paris. He returned to the Russian Empire in 1907, enrolling at the Mechanical College of the
Igor Sikorsky October 26, 1972, and is buried in Saint John the Baptist Russian Orthodox Cemetery located on Nichols Avenue in Stratford. In 1966, Sikorsky was inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame.. Sikorsky's and Andrei Tupolev's professional careers were covered in the 1979 Soviet biopic "The Poem of Wings" () where Sikorsky was portrayed by Yury Yakovlev. A working model of Sikorsky Ilya Muromets was recreated for filming. The Sikorsky Memorial Bridge, which carries the Merritt Parkway across the Housatonic River next to the Sikorsky corporate headquarters, is named for him. Sikorsky has been designated a Connecticut Aviation