Sikorsky - The Early years.

[Graviman]

Found these fascinating videos of Igor Sikorsky's early fixed wing work. Clearly the man was a visionary. Any translated points would be interesting.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=YN0Ov3iISG8

http://youtube.com/watch?v=CWSFSTamIRk

Just to keep the thread on a rotary wing footing, here is some of his later work.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=7PyZoMYeb24

Finally, not directly related to helicopter development, this video which has to be seen to be believed. Absolutely no pilot misjudgement involved - aircraft isn't even running!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=c6jdF692bcA

Mart

[Hilife]

Out of interest, his son (Sergei) is guest speaker at the Handley Page lecture about his father next month at the RAeS in London.

[Graviman]

Thanks Hilife, would that i still lived in the neighborhood. :(

http://www.raes.org.uk/conference/PDFs/HP07.pdf

http://www.4hp.org.uk/rooms/bill_boeing

I'll consider sneaking off a day to fly down.

Mart

[Graviman]

Just a quick note to say that i had the honour of meeting Sergei Sikorsky last night, courtesy of the RAES. He was not at all what i expected, for someone with so many accomplishments, and was still passionate about helicopter development. A very approachable, and genuinely friendly guy, with a lot of sound advice for an enthusiastic engineer.

Congratulations, Sergei, on an excellent lecture and a brilliant career.

Mart

[JohnDixson]

I believe that all who have had the honor to work with Sergei would share your thoughts.

Just one anecdote:

In the early 1970's we had a one-of-a-kind protoptype called the S-67. We took it on a tour of the UK, Germany and Iran. While at Buckeburg, I had the opportunity to give Sergei a familiarization flight in the aircraft, which included the entire standard envelope for that aircraft: 200 kts, rolls and split S, and load factor to 3.5 G. Anyhow we landed after about 45 minutes of that stuff and shut down. Sergei got out, beaming, and kind of sidled me off toward the tail of the ship, out of earshot of all of the onlookers. In a low voice, he says, " John, that was terrific, and you know, I think its better than sex" . When he saw the "rolling my eyeballs" reaction to that he continued, " yes, because you can do that all day".

[Graviman]

Wow, the original Blackhawk! I have a great deal of respect for helicopter pilot airmanship.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/93/Sikorsky_S-67_bw_lo-res.jpg/250px-Sikorsky_S-67_bw_lo-res.jpg

http://avia.russian.ee/helicopters_eng/sik_s-67.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikorsky_S-67_Blackhawk

Another very good Sikorsky resource on the web:
http://www.sikorskyarchives.com/index.html

Mart

[Upland Goose]

Name dropping!!
I had the honour and pleasure to have dinner with Sergei a couple of nights before his lecture last week - a high point in my career.
We talked of flying boats and helicopters until the cows came home. I didn't have the heart to mention that I was flying an Agusta A109S the next day!
In my defence I had flown an S76 that morning and but an AS355 at the weekend, what a week for a helicopter slut - I'll fly for anyone as long as they pay.
Sergei is a top man and his father was in the stratosphere.
Sometime I pinch myself and say this business is GREAT!:ok:
Upland Goose

[ShyTorque]

"what a week for a helicopter slut - I'll fly for anyone as long as they pay."

Yes, UG, I had heard that. ;)

I also think this business is much better than it was last year... and the further from DG1 and DG2, the better it gets :)

[Graviman]

Hehehe - no name dropping intended, UG. I am not a pro-heli pilot, and have only flown an R22 under instruction. I'm not even in the heli industry, but have always been keen on helicopter development - and would certainly like to contribute. I just found it remarkable that someone with Sergei Sikorsky's reputation was so willing to enter into conversation, with everyone in the room.

Mart

[IFMU]

I just found it remarkable that someone with Sergei Sikorsky's reputation was so willing to enter into conversation, with everyone in the room.
I got to go to the AHS forum one time, nearly 10 years ago. Our flight out was cancelled due to weather. Sergei was on the same flight, and my wife and I ended up having dinner with him. Sergei can make anybody feel at ease, and involved in the conversation. Including non-techical, non-aviaiton people like my wife. My mom had made the same observation about Sergei. But, he is equally competent talking to engineers, pilots, people in industry. And, with his command of languages, along with his natural ambassador skills, he would be equally well suited for talking to heads of state from just about anywhere. The magic of his personality is that he can hold court with all these different people at once, and not lose any of them. Having met the man, I wish even more that I had the chance to meet his father.

-- IFMU

[Upland Goose]

Graviman

I apologise for my name dropping but I couldn't resist it, I was still "charged" from having met Sergei. :O

Like IFMU I was enthralled that he was so personable and the enthusiasm you now share for helicopters is infectious and Sergei is a real "carrier" of this disease we call Sky Fever.

The thing that astounded me was his knowledge of the most obscure aircraft built and IFMU is so right - he can talk to anyone and put them at ease. What a gift!

I pass on one snippet - if Sergei had all the money required, he said he would buy a - HAWKER HUNTER!

The man has taste!

Glad you could make the RAeS lecture, keep an eye out for their website and the Royal Institiute of Navgation for that matter, the presentations can be memorable.

A few Robinson hours have been the downfall of many a good lady or gent - once smitten, there is no going back!

UG:ok:

[Graviman]

UG, i was buzzing the entire train journey back from talking to Sergei S - pity i couldn't hang around longer. I also genuinely enjoyed the many other conversations i had. I have a real respect for heli pros, and wish i had spare cash and time to get into it seriously. At the moment it is an end of study treat at the end of each OU course. Managed to hover, spot turn and taxi last time, so hopefully that is still there. Wonderful machines...

IFMU, concur absolutely.

Mart

[JimL]

Sergei Sikorsky was one of the guest speakers at the annual European Helicopter Operators Committee (EHOC) conference in Budapest this weekend. Here is a picture of him and his wife Elena in deep conversation with Rolf Schneider of Wiking Helikopters. It was taken at the Fine Arts Museum at a reception given by Sikorsky Helicopters.

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m129/Jim_Lyons/SergeiSikorskyatEHOC.jpg

All enjoyed the presentation which was given unscripted; judging by its sheer professionalism, it was the same one given at the RAeS and attended by Graviman - not bad for an 84 year old (Sergei that is not Graviman). I was particularly impressed at one part in the lecture when he informed us that one of Igor's benefactors in the early days was no other than Rachmaninoff (surely more than a brief encounter).

Sergei spent a long weekend with us so most had the opportunity to further discuss Igor's 'early years' at leisure in the evenings. On the last night his reveries were briefly interrupted by a private 15 minute aerobatics display (courtesy of the venue owner - a repeat of one given for his 50th birthday earlier in the month) flown by the Hungarian 'former' world champion. Until I witnessed it with my own eyes, I was not aware that an aeroplane could fly sideways - even Sergei had a smile on his face.

Jim

[Dave_Jackson]

Mart's lead-post in this tread makes the request; "Any translated points would be interesting."

Nick;
This thread [Sikorsky - The Early years.] is an appropriate one in which to follow up on your previous offer to get clarification from Mr. Sergi Sikorsky (http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?p=3031310&highlight=Flettner+Sergei#post3031310) about the following statements made on the Sikorsky web site;


IGOR I. SIKORSKY-THE MAN ~ His Aviation Firsts (http://www.sikorskyarchives.com/index.html)

1939 VS-300 First single main rotor helicopter successfully produced in the World.
. . . . . . TsAGI 1-EA - "On August 14, 1932 A.M.Cheremukhin reached altitude 605m." (http://avia.russian.ee/helicopters_eng/brat_1ea.php)

1943 R-4 First mass produced helicopter.
. . . . . . "The Kolibri "Humming Bird" was the first helicopter put into mass production" [10 BEFORE 1943; plus 14 during 1943 and 1944] "and the only helicopter to make any significant contributions in World War II." (http://www.warbirdsresourcegroup.org/LRG/fl282.html)

1943 R-4 First helicopter to land on a ship - Bunker Hill.
. . . . . . September 1942 ~ The FL-282 landed on the M.S. Greif. (http://www.vrtulnik.cz/flettner282.htm)

1945 R-4 is the only helicopter to serve in World War II.
1952 S-55 First anti-submarine warfare helicopter.
. . . . . . "By 1942, the Kolibri was operational on warships with suitable platforms, escorting convoys in the Baltic, Mediterranean and Aegean Seas, and was thus effectively the first military helicopter in the world The helicopter was found to be especially valuable at dawn and dusk when pilots of fixed wing aircraft did not have good visual contact in the poor light. During the day observation was especially favorable in the Mediterranean where the clear water allowed the helicopter crews to 'see' submarines as deep as 130 feet." (http://www.fiddlersgreen.net/AC/aircraft/Flettner-282/flettner.php)

[Graviman]

Jim, it was Sergei Sikorsky's youthful enthusiasm which i found really refreshing.

Dave, you have to admit that TsAGI 1-EA with it's 4 tail rotor's is a massively complicated compared to the single MR/TR config. I would say Igor Sikorsky's major innovation was to correctly identify the compromise required for the machine purpose. This compromise naturally changes as the machine speed goes up.

Mart

[Dave_Jackson]

Mart,


Sikorsky VS-300-C

http://avia.russian.ee/foto/gallery/sikorsky/sik_vs-300_8.jpg

http://avia.russian.ee/foto/gallery/sikorsky/sik_vs-300_1-s.gif

[Graviman]

Ok Dave, but this has to be seen in context. The problem of gyro nutation in cyclic control was really not understood at first. The lateral booms were a temporary fix while developing the rest of the machine, while the cyclic control was further investigated. In fact the army based the XR4 orders on the raised lateral tailboom config. Good temporary fix IMHO.

I.S. was not the first, but he did develope the helicopter to commercial viability. Any engineer will tell you this is the biggest headache, since it forces out all of the complicated "what if's" along the way.

Intermeshing does have benefits from the point of view of powertrain layout, so it is fair to ask whether this also deserves further consideration. The context of this question has to be the solution to high speed flight.

Mart

[handysnaks]

Is that Bob Dylan in the first picture DJ?:)

[Dave_Jackson]

Mart,

I humbly suggest that engineers tend to advance due to what they know and their ability to develop technical sound products. Politicians and promoters tend to advance due to whom they know and their ability to market themselves.

You will find the book 'Heelicopter : pioneering with Igor Sikorsky' very interesting. It is written by William E. Hunt; an early engineer at Sikorsky.

Another book is 'The Helicopter', which is an updated version of 'Anything a Horse Can Do'. It is written by Colonel Frank Gregory of the US Army Air Corps; the initial customer of Sikorsky.

These two books give an insight into Igor Sikorsky and the early years.



handysnaks,

Yes, it is Bob Dylan. He is singing 'Things Have Changed' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0e4saINO_s) off of the back of the card. :)

[Graviman]

I'll get hold of those books, Dave - sound interesting. Won't get a chance to read them until xmas though, since i'm too busy advancing my own knowledge. ;)

Mart