Evidence of Renaissance European and Chinese Early Designs

There is evidence that Chinese and Renaissance Europeans had the design in mind, because among the artefacts found from these civilizations are toys that look like helicopters. History tells us that various inventors have tried to work out a functional helicopter, but the problem was finding an engine that could make a “blade” whirl with enough power to create the “lift” or vertical thrust in order to get off the ground.

Designs by Paul Cornu and Juan de la Cierva

In 1907, a helicopter designed by Paul Cornu was able to get off the ground and in 1923, a Spaniard named Juan de la Cierva successfully flew an “autogiro” but it wasn’t until 1930 that a practical craft was developed, worked on by Russian-American Igor Sikorsky, a pioneer of aviation.

Early Life of Sikorsky 

Sikorsky lived a life with prominent parents and closely allied with the tsar. He was born in Kiev on May 25, 1889. As a boy, he took interest in da Vinci’s aeronautical drawings particularly the helicopter, and pursued an education focused on aeronautics. Growing as a teenager, he studied in Germany then travelled to Paris known for the best learning in aeronautical design concepts that time. 

Sikorsky’s Design and Experiments 

While in Paris he bought a 25 horsepower (hp) engine to power a single-blade design he had created. However, he had the same problem and need like his predecessors had: a sturdy-enough vertical thrust to get the craft off the ground.

For a while, he dropped his experiments and designed other fixed-wing aircraft, including military craft such as bombers, for the Tsarist Imperial Army. Much identified with the tsar, he was one of the “marked” people when the communists came to power. He fled Russia giving up his aeronautical career, and ended in France.

Sikorsky’s Bomber Commision for World War I

In France, Sikorsky was commissioned to build a bomber for the Allies’ use in World War I, but since the armistice was signed in 1918, he didn’t get to finish it. The following year, he left for the US, in New York. For the next 10 years, from 1920, he started his own company, Sikorsky Aero Engineering Corporation. He developed fixed-wing airplanes. finally, in the 1930s he returned to his original dream of designing a flying helicopter.

Sikorsky’s Successful Launch, 1939

Sikorsky applied to United Aircraft to finance his projects. On September 14, 1939, he climbed into what was truly the first single-rotor helicopter, powered by a 75 hp engine turning an automobile fan belt that turned the blades. His dream machine lifted and flew.

World War II’s  VS-300 (R-4)

During World War II, ”VS-300″ came out – the first helicopter. The US Army ordered a variation calling it the “R-4.” Although it wasn’t used greatly in World War II, it was availed of in 1950, when Korean War started.

The helicopter became an essential air transport most especially because it could land in areas where other aircrafts could not. In particular, Sikorsky was most pleased of the helicopter’s ability to save lives rather than destroy.