Igor Sikorsky

1889 – 1972

Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky was a Russian-American aviation pioneer who designed both the world's first multi-engine fixed-wing aircraft and the first practical mass-produced helicopter. After fleeing the Russian Revolution, he founded the Sikorsky Aero Engineering Corporation on Long Island in 1923 and went on to build the great Pan American Clippers that opened transoceanic flying-boat service in the 1930s. His 1939 Vought-Sikorsky VS-300, the first practical single-rotor helicopter, established the design template used by virtually every helicopter built since.

Last checked: May 10, 2026, 1:06 PM