22clipper
6th Jan 2007, 23:30
Saw a Foxtel doco on the history of the warplane last night. At the end of WWI the bomber consisted mostly of an observer reaching down to the floor & manhandling an artillery shell fitted with fins over the side. Except that is in Russia where they had a 4 engined bi-plane with cabin heating & club style wicker chairs fitted with a bomb-bay. The designer? A young Igor Sikorsky.
Well, that would be the II'ya Muromets. The production follow on to the Grand, if you will. You can find out a lot of Igor Sikorsky history right from the Sikorsky homepage, which will bring you here:
http://www.sikorsky.com/frames/external_links/page/1,9607,CLI1_DIV69,00.html?extlink=http://www.sikorskyarchives.com
An amazing man. An aviation pioneer in fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft. A deeply spiritual man. A man both intelligent and humble. Lots of good books on Mr. Sikorsky.
One of the best I've read and enjoyed is:
Igor Sikorsky – His Three Careers in Aviation, by Delear, published by Dodd, Mead and Co., 1969
-- IFMU