Igor Sikorsky's first helicopters (1909-1910)

[Stargazer]

Presenting Igor Sikorsky as the father of the helicopter is not so far-fetched as it may seem.

His 1939 tests of the VS-300 were hardly the first successful flights of a rotorcraft, but they marked the first time someone built a helicopter, flew it sufficiently high and long and repeatedly to make the concept viable.

But the VS-300 was hardly Sikorsky's first dabbling with the rotary wing concept. As early as 1909, when he was still a young student in Imperial Russia, he designed his Helicopter N°1, which didn't fly, and the following year, the Helicopter N°2, which managed a few hops up and down.

At that time, however, no engines existed that could have successfully taken a man into the air in a vertical way, and rotorcraft were too experimental a concept to be taken seriously. Sikorsky shelved his rotary dreams and started making aircraft. He invented the concept of the large twin-engine bomber and was highly instrumental in the builup of his native country's air power.

But the dream of building a practical helicopter never left him, and when the VS-300A concept was validated, he left the fixed-wing business to focus on rotorcraft, a daring move that won him international recognition as the rightful father of the helicopter.

 

[Heligato]

The first helicopter that flew high and long was the FW-61.
The first helicopter factory build was Fl-282, in fact, it was used during the WW2.
Sorry my english (I am from Argentina)
Best regards.

 

[windswords]

Although not the very first true helicopter, the VS-300 was the first successful single lifting rotor helicopter and the first successful helicopter to use a single vertical-plane tail rotor configuration for anti-torque. With floats attached, it became the first practical amphibious helicopter.

Some may argue for the Russian TsAGI 1-EA, an experimental helicopter with 4-blade main rotor and four small 2-blade anti-rotation propellers (with variable pitch),installed in pairs at the ends of fuselage. Developed by Aleksei Mikhailovich Cheryemukhin and Aleksandr Mikhailovich Izakson. Flight testes began on June 26, 1932. On August 14, 1932 A.M.Cheremukhin reached altitude 605 meters. Unfortunately, The USSR at the time was not a member of an International Aviation Federation, and this record could not be formally registered. Controllability of the 1-EA was poor, but it had excellent performance and endurance.