TGSV participated in the unveiling of the world’s first monument to the prominent aircraft engineer and helicopter designer Igor Sikorsky (1889-1972) on the territory of the National Technical University Kyiv Polytechnic Institute (“NTU KPI”). The ceremony was sponsored by Vitali Klitschko and attracted a number of famous U.S. politicians, attorneys, and businessmen, including a former Mayor of New York City Rudolph Giuliani.
“Ihor Ivanovych Sikorsky was a brilliant aircraft and helicopter designer, philosopher and thinker, a man who changed the world. And we are proud that he studied at the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”, – said Mykhailo Zhurovskyi, member of Ukraine’s National Academy of Science and rector at the NTU KPI.
“Remember, almost 100 years ago the first helicopter took off in Kyiv! A young student like you, Ihor Sikorsky, forced a flying device to rise vertically from the court yard of his own house, – noted Mr. Klitschko. – Like all pioneering pilots, Ihor Sikorsky was a tireless dreamer. And you, young and talented students, must dream and set your goals high in order to expand this museum collection with your ingenious inventions in the future”.
Sikorsky was born in Kiev. He began to realize his aircraft construction dreams whist studying at the NTU KPI (1907 – 1911). In 1912 his Sikorsky R-6A received the Great Gold Medal at the Moscow Aviation Exhibition. The construction of Rusky Vitiaz and the famous Ilia Muromets in 1913 marked a new step in Sikorsky’s career. In 1918 the designer immigrated to France and then to the United States, where he designed the Sikorsky-29. In the 1930s, Sikorsky returned to helicopter design and is now regarded as the founding father of modern helicopter construction.