Kiev Polytechnic Institute

Igor Sikorsky , born Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky was a Russian American pioneer of aviation in both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. He designed and... flew the world's first multi-engine fixed-wing aircraft, the Russky Vityaz in 1913, and the first airliner, Ilya Muromets, in 1914. After emigrating to the 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 would modify 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 , as the youngest of five children. His father, Ivan Alexeevich Sikorsky, had a Russian and noble Polish family background. A professor of psychology, Ivan was the son and grandson of Russian Orthodox priests and held monarchist and Russian nationalist views.
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