Why is it that most people in the united states regard the first helicopter to fly as the Sikorsky ?. the Focke Achgellis FW61 flew in 1936 some 4 years before the first free flight of the VS300. Does the fact that this was a side by side configuration make it any less of a helicopter ?. I agree entirely that the first succesful production helicopter was a Sikorsky and the side by side configuration was a dead end.
What do you all think.
http://www.flight100.org/history/helicopter.html for a link confirming the dates.