Igor Sikorsky: His Three Careers in Aviation

Dodd Mead, 1976. First Edition. Hardcover. Like New/Very Good. 9x5x1. Signed by Significant Other. Some chipping and edgewear to dustjacket. Inscribed "June 2, 1980 Stratford, Conn. To Mr. Hans Roeschel, With best wishes from one who saw much of what is recorded in this book. Sincerely, Sergei Sikorsky". Sergei is the son of aviation and helicopter pioneer Igor Sikorsky, who designed the first viable helicopter in 1939, the Vought-Sikorsky VS-300. A talented aeronautical engineer, the Russian-born Igor also designed the worlds first successful four-engine airplane in 1913. Sergei has many souvenirs and experiences from his lifetime in aviation. Drafted in 1943, Sergei went into the Coast Guard Helicopter Development Unit, a joint US-British unit that trained the first US and British helicopter pilots and mechanics and developed the first helicopter rescue hoists, litters, baskets, and related piloting techniques. His unit was also involved in some early search-and ­rescue missions. Believe it or not, I have a membership card from the American Helicopter Society dating to 1945, the first year when it was organized, Sergei says. He is also an honorary lifetime member of HAI. Sergei has held US, Italian, Swiss, German, and French pilot’s licenses and has checked out on around 40 US and European aircraft. Sergei was awarded the Enoch Thulin Bronze Medal from the Swedish Society for Aeronautics in 1963, the Institute of Navigation Medal from the Italian Institute of Navigation in 1965, and an honorary doctorate in aviation management from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 1983. He was also named an honorary fellow of the American Helicopter Society in 1991 and received the Gruppo Agusta Fellowship Award in 1993, the Ukrainian Yaroslav the Wise medal in 2005, the Helicopter Association Medal from the Russian Helicopter Industry Association in 2012, the John J. Schneider Historical Award from the American Helicopter Society in 2012, and the Corporate Leadership Award from the Navy Helicopter Association in 2017. Igor Sikorsky founded the Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation in 1923 and developed the first of Pan American Airways' ocean-crossing flying boats in the 1930s. In 1939, Sikorsky designed and flew the Vought-Sikorsky VS-300, the first viable American helicopter, which pioneered the rotor configuration used by most helicopters today. Sikorsky modified the design into the Sikorsky R-4, which became the world's first mass-produced helicopter in 1942. n 1966, Sikorsky was inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame. A scarce signature and a unique association copy.