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Igor Sikorsky

Born in Kiev when the city belonged to Imperial Russia, Sikorsky (foreground, with a helper) turned 25 in May 1914. He had already built a helicopter, which couldn’t lift a pilot, as well as the world’s first four-engine airplane, the Grand, which included an enclosed cabin, a washroom, upholstered chairs, and a balcony for passengers. The 25-year-old Sikorsky then designed the larger Ilya Mourometz, a World War I bomber. Seventy were eventually built. It was five more years before he emigrated to the United States, and almost a decade before he founded the Sikorsky Aero Engineering Corporation near Roosevelt Field on Long Island.

NASM (SI NEG. #SI-90-3716~PM)

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Photos from: "What Were They Doing at 25?" »