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Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky[sikOr´skE] Pronunciation Key, 1889–1972, American aeronautical engineer, b. Kiev, Russia. He immigrated to the United States in 1919 and was naturalized in 1928. Sikorsky built and flew the first multimotored plane (1913) and established the world's endurance record for sustained flight in a helicopter of his own design (1941). He organized corporations to manufacture airplanes (in 1923, 1925, and 1928) and became engineering manager of the Vought-Sikorsky Aircraft Division of the United Aircraft Manufacturing Corp. He is best known for his work on the development of the helicopter. In 1968 he was awarded the National Medal of Science.
See his Story of the Winged-S (rev. ed. 1967) and Invisible Encounter (1947).
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