Our compatriot, one of the largest aircraft designers of the 20th century, Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky, before the eyes of one generation, lived several amazing lives and in each he was great in its own way. Various and, moreover, unexpected achievements of design ideas are associated with his name, each time bringing world aviation to a new level.
The first flights of Russian airplanes, the first original designs of multi-engine heavy aircraft, the first "flying boats" and amphibians, helicopters of the classical single-rotor design and much more became possible thanks to the talent of Sikorsky. After the revolution, he left Russia with pain in his heart. Much of what he has done has served the benefit and glory of the United States. Sikorsky's company, which still exists there to this day, is considered the leading manufacturer of helicopters. But until the end of his life Sikorsky remained a patriot of Russia.
He was born on May 25 (June 6) 1889 in Kiev and became the fifth child in the family of a doctor of medicine, professor at the University. St. Vladimir Ivan Alekseevich Sikorsky. The elder Sikorsky, who gained worldwide fame thanks to his numerous works on psychiatry, general psychology and neuropsychiatric hygiene, became involved in the scandalous "Beilis case". In 1913, a strange murder of a boy was investigated in Kiev. The authorities turned to Ivan Alekseevich for help as a psychiatrist. He scrupulously studied all the circumstances and decided to assume that this was a ritual murder. The consequences are known - a wave of anti-Semitism and a violent reaction of the Russian intelligentsia to this. The elder Sikorsky fell ill and never returned to the university.
Igor Ivanovich by that time was an established person, he was 24 years old, and all his mental strength was directed to the creation of the world's first multi-engine aircraft. His father raised him according to his own method and gave him devotion to the Church, the Throne and the Fatherland, helped to develop an unshakable will and unique perseverance in achieving the goal.
The mother of the future aircraft designer, Maria Stefanovna (nee Temryuk-Cherkasova), who, like her father, had a medical education, instilled in little Igor a love of music, literature and art. It was from her that he first heard about the projects of the aircraft of the great Leonardo da Vinci. A favorite book was the novel by Jules Verne "Robur the Conqueror", which tells about a giant airship - the prototype of a helicopter. He once dreamed about flying in an airship and became a lifelong dream.
Igor Ivanovich began to study at the 1st Kiev Gymnasium, but soon wished to follow in the footsteps of his older brother and entered the Naval Cadet Corps in St. Petersburg. He liked the environment of naval officers, here he found real friends. However, every year he became more and more clearly aware of his true calling. At the end of the general education classes, he leaves the building with the aim of entering a higher technical institution and becoming an engineer. But the year was 1906, Russian educational institutions were experiencing the consequences of revolutionary events and actually did not work. In order not to waste time, young Sikorsky leaves to study in Paris, at the Technical School Duvigno de Lano.
A year later, he returned and entered the Kiev Polytechnic Institute. However, he is so fascinated by the idea of building an aircraft that he forgets about his studies. He received an engineering degree in 1914 "Honoris Causa" at the St. Petersburg Polytechnic Institute for the creation of multi-engine aircrafts.
Like many other aviation pioneers, Sikorsky started out with flying models. He built his first model at the age of twelve. It was a helicopter - he was already interested in vertically taking off vehicles. In 1908-1909. he consults with leading domestic and foreign experts, visits France and Germany, buys the engine and the necessary structural parts. And in July 1909, in the courtyard of his Kiev house, a twenty-year-old student is completing the assembly of the first helicopter in Russia, brought to the stage of full-scale tests. However, its lifting power was still insufficient. In early spring of next year, Sikorsky is building a second helicopter according to the same scheme. This rotorcraft was able to lift its own weight. At the same time, Sikorsky is successfully experimenting with snowmobiles of his own design. On them, as on helicopters, he learns to design and build propellers, and then directs all his energy to create more promising machines at that time - airplanes.
Together with another student of the Kiev Polytechnic Institute F.I.Bylinkin at the Kurenevsky airfield in Kiev, Sikorsky builds a shed workshop, where their first aircraft is born - a small two-post biplane BiS-1. Alas, the engine power was not enough for takeoff, he could only bounce. Sikorsky managed to take off for the first time only on June 3, 1910 in another aircraft - BiS-2 (C-2). The Anzani's capricious engines did not allow this aircraft, as well as the modifications that followed it, to become truly manned aircraft. But the young designer did not lose hope. The family supported him in all his endeavors.
Success came when in the spring of 1911 the fifth Sikorsky plane, the C-5, was built, which surpassed the previous ones in terms of size, power and reliability of the power plant. On this biplane, Sikorsky passed the pilot's exam, set four All-Russian records, made demonstration flights and even drove passengers. At the beginning of September 1911, military maneuvers took place. A talented young designer took part in them and demonstrated the superiority of his aircraft over foreign cars. Around the same time, he built several light aircraft in his own workshop by the orders of his friends - Kiev students. He liked to be not only a designer and constant test of his aircraft, but also a training pilot. Newspapers and magazines started talking about the aviation repair shops and the flight school of the Kiev student, he was called "Russian Farman".
In the same 1911, Sikorsky developed his sixth aircraft (C-6) with a more powerful engine and a three-seater cockpit. On it, he set a world speed record in flight with two passengers. Working to improve the aerodynamic characteristics of this model, the designer built a small aerodynamic laboratory. The upgraded S-6A aircraft earned the Big Gold Medal of the Moscow Aeronautical Exhibition in April 1912, and shortly before that, the Russian Technical Society awarded Sikorsky with the Medal of Honor "for useful work in aeronautics and for the independent development of an airplane of its system, which gave excellent results."
The undergraduate student received two very flattering offers from St. Petersburg at once: first, he was invited to the post of chief engineer of the established naval aviation; secondly, for the position of designer of the newly formed aeronautical department of the Russian-Baltic Wagon Plant (RBVZ). He accepted both and moved with a group of his closest collaborators from Kiev to the capital of the empire.
Thanks to this coincidence, Sikorsky managed to make a great contribution to the creation of a special kind of troops - the aviation of the Russian navy, and he can rightfully be considered one of its founders. However, after serving only a year, he retired from the naval service, giving himself completely to work at RBVZ. In the summer of 1912, he became both chief designer and manager at this plant. A great influence on the fate of Igor Ivanovich was exerted by the outstanding organizer of the domestic mechanical engineering, Chairman of the Board of RBVZ M.V. Shidlovsky. He staked on a twenty-three-year-old student and was not wrong. At RBVZ, one after another, new Sikorsky aircraft - biplanes and monoplanes - appear, which cause constant admiration both among the general public and among specialists and bring Russia the glory of one of the leading aviation powers. The creation of each aircraft meant an important leap forward. During only 1912 and 1913. thanks to the talent and work of Sikorsky, the following appeared in Russia: the first seaplane; the first aircraft sold abroad; the first specially designed trainer aircraft; the first production aircraft; the first monocoque aircraft; the first aerobatic aircraft, etc. Three aircraft designed by Sikorsky became winners in international competitions for military airplanes, proving their advantages over the latest foreign aircraft in a bitter struggle. The S-10 reconnaissance aircraft had a dozen modifications, which by the beginning of the First World War formed the basis of the naval aviation of the Baltic Fleet. The maneuverable S-12 was also built in series and then successfully used at the front. At the same time, the plant established licensed production of some types of foreign aircraft. Thus, Sikorsky can rightfully be ranked among the founders of the domestic aviation industry.
On Russian soil, Sikorsky was destined to give life to one of his greatest creations. Back in 1911, after a forced landing, which almost cost him his life, Igor Ivanovich thought about ways to increase the reliability of aircraft and the directions of their further development. By the middle of next year, he had already thoroughly developed the concept of a promising aircraft, specially designed for operation in the vast Russian expanses in our harsh climate.
In accordance with this concept, the device was designed as a multi-engine, with a crew of several people, and access to the main parts of the structure for repairs in the air was also provided. The possibility of such a giant aircraft was rejected at the time by most aviation authorities. Nevertheless, the chairman of the board of RBVZ supported his twenty-three-year-old chief designer. And in March 1913, the world's first four-engine air giant was built.
At first it was named S-9 "Grand", and after some modifications - "Russian Knight". Rumors about the air giant spread across Russia. In Europe, they were surprised and did not believe. Emperor Nicholas expressed a desire to examine him. The plane was flown to Krasnoe Selo, the tsar went aboard. Soon Sikorsky was given a memorable gift from him - a gold watch. The aircraft, surpassing in size and take-off weight all still built, laid the foundation for a new direction in aviation - heavy aircraft construction. He became the prototype of all subsequent passenger airliners, heavy bombers and transport aircraft.
The creation of multi-engine giant aircraft brought world fame to Sikorsky. He became a national hero of Russia. Machines similar to the "Russian Knight" appeared abroad only a few years later. Further development of the design of the "Russian Knight" - the four-engine "Ilya Muromets". It took off in December of the same 1913. Transferred to floats, it remained until 1917 the largest seaplane in the world. For the first time in the world, serial production of air giants began at RBVZ.
During the First World War "Muromtsy" were effectively used as heavy bombers and long-range reconnaissance aircraft. They formed the "Air Squadron" - the first formation of strategic aviation. Sikorsky himself participated in the organization of the squadron, trained the crews and practiced the tactics of their combat use. He spent a lot of time at the front, observing his planes in action, and making the necessary changes to their design. A total of 85 "Muromtsev" of six main types were built. Each type had a number of modifications.
In addition to heavy bombers, Sikorsky created in 1914-1917. light fighters, naval reconnaissance aircraft, light fighter reconnaissance aircraft, twin-engine fighter-bomber and attack aircraft, i.e. almost a complete fleet of aircraft of all types used in the World War. In addition, under the leadership of Igor Ivanovich, aircraft engines, equipment and weapons were developed and serially built, new factories were erected for their production. A powerful diversified domestic aviation industry was formed. In total in Russia in 1909-1917. Sikorsky created two and a half dozen basic aircraft models (not counting their modifications and joint developments), two helicopters, three snowmobiles and one aircraft engine.
The government appreciated the person who multiplied the power and glory of the country. At the age of 25, Sikorsky became a knight of the Order of St. Vladimir, IV degree, equal in value to the Order of St. George, but in the civil sphere. By the age of 28, he was already a national hero. But all this did not turn his head. He was full of creative plans and far from the bustle of the world.
The revolution abruptly changed the fate of the famous designer. From the middle of 1917, all work at the RBVZ practically stopped. None of the aircraft of the new design (C-21 - C-27) was completed. Production was in a fever with rallies and strikes. Soldiers at the front and workers in the rear began to crack down on officers and engineers they did not like. Sikorsky was known for his devotion to the throne. He had been threatened before. But with the coming to power of the Bolsheviks, the last hopes of restoring the old order vanished. Igor Ivanovich accepts the invitation of the French government to continue working at the Allied factories. Leaving his young wife and newly born daughter Tatyana in the care of relatives, he sailed in March 1918 from Murmansk abroad.
The First World War ended before Sikorsky managed to build the French version of Ilya Muromets. There was no more work in France. Russia is engulfed in civil war. In 1919, Igor Ivanovich decided to move to the United States, where, as he believed, there were more prospects for heavy aircraft construction.
However, overseas, as in post-war Europe, the aircraft industry was rapidly declining. Sikorsky, who arrived in New York, found himself without a livelihood and was forced to work as an evening school teacher. In 1923 he managed to put together a company of Russian émigrés involved in aviation - engineers, workers and pilots. They formed the backbone of the Sikorsky Aeroengineering Corporation, a small aircraft manufacturing company founded in New York. Life was getting better somehow. Two sisters and a daughter came from the USSR. His wife refused to emigrate, and Igor Ivanovich entered into a second marriage with Elizaveta Alekseevna Semyonova. The marriage was happy. Four sons appeared one after another: Sergei, Nikolai, Igor and Georgy.
The first Sikorsky S-29 aircraft built in exile was assembled in 1924 in a chicken coop that belonged to one of the founders of Russian naval aviation V.V. Utgof. Many of our emigres provided assistance to the "Russian firm". S.V. Rachmaninov at one time was even listed as vice president of the corporation.
This twin-engined biplane has become the largest in America and one of the best in its class. He immediately gained worldwide fame, which served as an unpleasant surprise for the Bolsheviks, who did not expect new success from the "tsar's godson and Black Hundreds" they hated. "Aviation White Guards" - this is how the Soviet press responded to reports about the emergence of a "Russian company" in the United States. The name of Sikorsky was given political anathema.
But the 20s went on. The time for heavy transport aircraft had not yet come - there was almost no demand for them. Sikorsky had to switch to light aviation. First, a single-engine reconnaissance aircraft appeared, then a single-engine passenger aircraft, an airplane and a twin-engine amphibian. All aircraft (S-31-S-34) were sold, but experience has shown that the American aircraft market is already well supplied with light aircraft. The designer again began to try his luck on heavy biplanes. This time they were intended for a flight across the Atlantic The creators of the first transoceanic aircraft, if successful, would receive not only world fame, but also solid orders. Upon learning of this, Russian emigrants, scattered all over the world, perceived the construction of the giant S-35 as the most important national matter and began to send their modest savings to Sikorsky from all over the world. In the future, it was supposed to use such aircraft to form a national Russian airline under the auspices of the heir to the throne - Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich. Alas, Sikorsky was in for a failure: the S-35 crashed under mysterious circumstances at the moment of launch. And when the next giant was built, the transatlantic flight had already been completed. This plane, like the previous ones, remained only in a few copies.
For the development of the company, it was required to create a machine that is in great demand. She became a ten-seater twin-engine amphibian. The newspapers wrote that the S-38 amphibious "revolutionized aviation", that it flew, landed and splashed down where there used to be only Indian pies and hunter boats. There were legends about the reliability and safety of the amphibian.
Sikorsky's Russian Firm, renamed Sikorsky Aviation Corporation, received a lot of orders and reliably got on the wing. The firm moved from Long Island, where it rented premises, to its own plant in Stratford, near Bridgeport, Connecticut.
In June 1929, she was admitted to the powerful United Aircraft and Transport corporation (now United Technologies), of which she still exists today. Having lost independence, Sikorsky's firm received reliable economic support on the eve of the Great Depression. It is interesting to note that in 1929, three of the five aircraft-building firms that were part of the corporation (Sikorsky, Hamilton and Chance-Vout) were chief designers of the White émigré community.
Sikorsky Aviation was rapidly gaining strength and its staff was increasing. Her main creative backbone was still made up of emigrants from Russia. A reliable support for Sikorsky, his first assistant and deputy was an outstanding designer and scientist, aerodynamicist Mikhail Evgenievich Glukharev. His younger brother Sergei was also a talented designer and organizer. In addition to the Glukharev brothers, talented engineers Mikhail Byuwid, Boris Labensky and Nikolai Gladkevich spent their entire emigre life next to Sikorsky. The chief designer said about his closest friends and associates: "They are ready to die for me, just as I am for them." For a long time the legendary pilot Boris Vasilyevich Sergievsky worked as the chief pilot of the company, the heads of various services were Vyacheslav Kudryavtsev, Baron Nikolai Soloviev, Georgy Meirer, Vladimir Bari, Leonid Lapin and many other engineers and production organizers known in America and abroad.
Sikorsky's "Russian firm" became a Mecca for emigrants. Here many immigrants from the former Russian Empire found work and received a specialty, who had no relation to aviation before. The career officers of the fleet, such as S. de Bosset, V. Kachinsky and V. Ofenberg, having labored as workers and draftsmen, headed various divisions of the company. Admiral B.A. Blokhin was a simple worker at the firm. The well-known historiographer of the White movement, Cossack General S.V. Denisov prepared his historical research, working for the "Sikorsky Corporation" as a night watchman. Some of the Russian émigrés subsequently left the firm and made their names famous in other enterprises and in other areas. Famous aviation scientists - teachers of American universities N.A.Aleksandrov, V.N.Gartsev, A.A.Nikolsky, I.ASikorsky and others left Sikorsky's firm. Baron Soloviev created his own aviation company on Long Island. Sergievsky founded a helicopter design company in New York. Meirer organized production at another "Russian" aircraft company "Seversky". V.V. Utgof became one of the organizers of the US Coast Guard Aviation. The first priest of the factory church, Father S. I. Antonyuk, received the post of Archbishop of Western Canada. Sergey Bobylev, the head of the firm's model shop, founded a large construction company. Cavalry General K.K. Agoev organized a stable of tribal horses known throughout America in Stratford.
The existence of Sikorsky's firm in Stratford contributed to the emergence of a powerful Russian colony in this city. The exiles from our country settled closer to their own. Many of them have never worked for the Sikorsky Corporation, but nevertheless they have always treated the head and founder of this enterprise with great respect. Igor Ivanovich remained one of the most respected residents of the city until the end of his life. He did a lot for the colony of compatriots. The emigrants opened a club, a school, built the Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas and even created a Russian opera. Since then, some areas of Stratford bear Russian names: Churaevka, Russian Beach, Dachi, etc. It is interesting to note that some emigrants who lived in this city and lived only in the Russian environment did not learn English.
Sikorsky created successful serial amphibians: a five-seat "flying yacht", a sixteen-seat amphibian and a forty-five-seat "air clipper" S-40. Four-engine aircraft of this type became the first serial heavy passenger airliners to be operated on long-haul scheduled airlines. When testing the first "clipper", Sikorsky, going into the passenger compartment, unexpectedly found that in reality he was seeing a complete repetition of the dream that he had in childhood. The dream came true in 30 years!
Sikorsky's amphibians and "flying boats" were used to establish the world-famous Pan American airline. She also ordered the aircraft designer multi-engine passenger airliners intended for regular transoceanic transportation. The first elegant "flying boat" S-42 entered the passenger line connecting both continents of America in 1934, the second opened flights across the Pacific Ocean in 1935. In 1937, the first passenger traffic across the Atlantic began on production aircraft of this type. So Sikorsky's "flying boat" became the first plane to reliably connect the continents. On the basis of the four-engined S-42, the designer created a smaller twin-engined amphibian, widely used in different parts of the world and acquired by many countries, including the Soviet Union. The purchased "white emigrant" amphibian even starred in the famous film "Volga-Volga", symbolizing the success of socialist construction.
The last aircraft of Sikorsky was a large four-engine "flying boat" S-44, created in 1937. It was quite a good aircraft, but the time of "air clippers" has irrevocably passed, the giant amphibious S-45 remained in the project. Orders for boats and amphibians plummeted. The United Aircraft board even decided to merge the Sikorsky firm with the Chane Vout firm. To restore independence, the fifty-year-old designer had to urgently "change the genre", look for a more promising niche. And here he again, as before, was helped by the support of his old comrades-in-arms, Russian emigrants. They rejected seemingly tempting invitations to return to their homeland, to Soviet Russia, and in 1938 began to develop a fundamentally new and at that time still unknown aircraft - a helicopter. The great designer started his creative career for the third time practically from scratch, on the outskirts of the united plant "Vout-Sikorsky". Ahead of him awaited a new glory, perhaps surpassing everything he had previously achieved.
The first experimental helicopter of Sikorsky took off under his control on September 14, 1939. It had a single-rotor scheme with a swashplate and a tail rotor. At present, this scheme has become a classic, over 90% of the world's helicopters were built on it, but then most aircraft designers considered it unpromising.
After two years of intense testing and fine-tuning of the experimental apparatus, in 1942, an experimental two-seater S-47 (R-4) helicopter was created, which soon entered serial production. It was the only helicopter of the anti-Hitler coalition countries used on the fronts of the Second World War. Sikorsky's shares went up the hill again. The United Aircraft board restored the independence of Sikorsky Aircraft, which soon received a new production base of its own in Bridgeport. This base remained the main center of Sikorsky's firm until 1955, when, due to a large increase in orders, a new plant was built in Stratford, where Sikorsky returned his residence.
Over time, more advanced light Sikorsky helicopters appeared. The post-war S-51 was particularly successful. It was widely used in many states for both military and civilian purposes, and withstood intense competition with aircraft from other helicopter companies. This helicopter especially distinguished itself in operations to save human lives. It was this appointment that Sikorsky considered the main one for the helicopter. Serial helicopter construction in Great Britain began with the acquisition of a license for the S-51. The lightweight S-52 became the world's first helicopter to perform aerobatics.
As before in aircraft construction, Sikorsky was most successful in the field of creating heavy machines. Here he had no equal. In contrast to the opinion prevailing at that time, he built three-half-ton helicopters according to the classical single-rotor scheme in 1949, and fourteen-ton helicopters in 1953, proving the possibility of using such a scheme for helicopters of any weight class. Brilliantly changing the line-up, Sikorsky created transport helicopters that were extremely successful for their time. Serial helicopter construction in France began with the license for the S-55. Sikorsky indirectly influenced the formation of helicopter construction in his homeland. The successful use of the Sikorsky helicopter in Korea, the first transatlantic flight forced the Soviet leaders to pay attention to rotorcraft.
All attempts by competitors to create something close in characteristics to the S-56 were unsuccessful. He had no analogues at all. It was the largest and most cargo-lifting helicopter, equipped with piston engines. Having set world records, he was recognized not only as the most lifting, but also the fastest. Subsequently, Sikorsky built an experimental bodyless helicopter crane, which allows to increase the weight of the transported cargo and simplify loading operations.
The best helicopter created by Sikorsky took off in 1954. It was the S-58. It was built by a number of countries, and many of its copies are still in operation. In terms of its flight, technical and economic characteristics, it surpassed all helicopters of its time. He became the "swan song" of the great aircraft designer. In 1958, when the serial production of this helicopter reached its peak - 400 machines a year, Sikorsky retired, retaining the position of the firm's advisor.
He resigned as CEO when the firm was in a flourishing state. None of the competing helicopter firms could compare with it in terms of technological and laboratory equipment, the number of employees, the volume and variety of products, and the number of guaranteed orders.
The powerful groundwork left by Sikorsky and constant consultations with him contributed to the creation in the late 50s and early 60s at the Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation of successful new, second generation helicopters, the main feature of which was the use of gas turbine engines instead of piston engines.
The founder of the world helicopter industry remained at an unattainable height for a long time. Under his leadership, helicopters of all existing classes were created and brought to mass production. He was called "helicopter pilot No. 1". In the United States, he created 17 basic types of aircraft and 18 helicopters.
The great designer never concealed his negative attitude to the events taking place in his homeland, but at the same time he always remained a patriot of Russia. “We need to work, and most importantly, to learn what will help us to restore the Motherland when it demands it from us,” he said, addressing his compatriot emigrants. He did a lot to promote the achievements of Russian culture and science in America, permanently remaining a member of the board of the Tolstoy Foundation, the Society of Russian Culture, etc. Provided moral and financial support to immigrants from Russia, various social and political emigre organizations. He gave lectures and reports, and not necessarily on aviation topics. A deeply religious person, Sikorsky contributed a lot to the development of the Russian Orthodox Church in the United States, supporting it not only financially. He wrote a number of books and brochures (in particular, "An Invisible Meeting", "Evolution of the Soul" and "In Search of Higher Realities"), which are considered by experts to be among the most original works of Russian theological thought abroad.
During his life, Sikorsky received over 80 various honorary awards, prizes and diplomas. Among them are the Russian Order of St. Vladimir of the 4th degree, which has already been mentioned here, as well as the medals of David Guggenheim, James Watt, and a diploma from the National Gallery of Fame of Inventors. In 1948 he was presented with a rare award - the Wright Brothers Memorial Prize, and in 1967 he was awarded the John Fritz Medal of Honor for scientific and technological achievements in the field of basic and applied sciences. In aviation, besides him, only Orville Wright was awarded it. Sikorsky was an honorary doctor of many universities.
What was he like, this outstanding aircraft designer? Of medium height, with a soft, even shy, manner of speaking and behavior, he possessed remarkable strength, moral and physical. He loved to travel, traveled all over America by car, visited many countries of the world. He was fond of mountaineering, conquered many peaks of America and Canada. His special love was volcanoes - "a mighty and majestic phenomenon of nature", according to Sikorsky. He preferred solitude to human communication, leaving by car far from the bustle of the city.
In 1917, Sikorsky got married, but this marriage was short-lived. He had a daughter, Tatyana, a future professor of sociology at Bridgeport University. The second time Sikorsky married in 1924, Elizaveta Alekseevna Semyonova. Their first-born Sergei worked in his father's firm, was its vice-president. The other three sons chose other professions: Nikolai became a violinist, Igor became a lawyer, Georgy became a mathematician.
A deeply religious person, Sikorsky not only financially supported the Russian Orthodox Church in America, but was himself an author. Remembering his plight in the early years of his stay in America, he provided material assistance to various émigré organizations.
Sikorsky died on October 26, 1972 and was buried in Easton, Connecticut. During his life, he was awarded many honorary titles and awards, but his main award is the gratitude of people who widely use the machines he created. And among these grateful people are the presidents of the United States, who, since Dwight D. Eisenhower, fly helicopters with the Sikorsky sign on board.
"Priroda" No. 9 1998, p. 71
Long background
Probably, it will sound strange, but the creation of an apparatus that could take off vertically, humanity thought back in ancient times. In China, around the 5th century BC, a toy appeared in the form of a stick with feathers attached to it. The feathers were attached to the end of the stick on four sides, forming a screw. Spinning such a toy in the palms of his hands, the person released it, and the stick flew up exactly like modern helicopters.
"Helicopter" by Da Vinci. (wikipedia.org)
Drawings of such devices were created later, for example, during the Renaissance and New Time. It is curious that many attribute the invention of the helicopter to Leonardo da Vinci, but this is a mistake.
Leonardo actually made a drawing of a certain aircraft. This apparatus was never built, and researchers of da Vinci's heritage are still arguing about how the apparatus drawn by the great thinker could have lifted off the ground. Nevertheless, it is now believed that Leonardo's car cannot be considered a helicopter. By the way, da Vinci's drawings were discovered strongly after his death. Mikhail Lomonosov, who was also trying to create an aircraft, did not know about Leonardo's works and, developing his project, relied solely on his own knowledge and experience. Lomonosov's idea was to build a machine that would take off vertically and be propelled by two screws. The project was never finished. By the way, Lomonosov did not work on an aircraft at all. His car did not involve a manned flight, its task was meteorological measurements. More precisely, they would be her task if Lomonosov completed the project and created such an apparatus.
Ponton d'Amercourt helicopter project. (wikipedia.org)
The French engineer Ponton d'Amercourt advanced even further. He was working on a project for a machine that was to be controlled by a person from the inside. According to the project, such a unit was to be driven by two screws. Amerkur, who worked in the middle of the 19th century, came very close to the goal and it was his works that formed the basis of future successful research.
Vertical flight
The first successful vertical flight in history was made by the brothers Louis and Jacques Breguet, as well as Charles Richet, who worked with them. By the way, this flight was not manned, and the device itself took off on a leash. Nevertheless, it was August 24, 1907 that can be considered the birthday of the helicopter.
The Breguet brothers' car weighed over 500 kilograms and was equipped with two engines and four wide propellers. The device took off from the ground by half a meter and stayed in the air for about a minute.
Charles Richet. (wikipedia.org)
A month later, the brothers repeated the experiment and their apparatus rose to a height of one and a half meters. Breguet and Richet were not the only designers. Simultaneously with them, their compatriot Paul Cornu worked on the helicopter project. He was destined to become the first pilot of a vertical take-off vehicle.
Cornu made his flight on November 13, 1907. He stayed in the air for 20 seconds, and the flight height was 52 centimeters. The idea of a manned flight took root, and it was in this direction that the followers of the French pioneers began to work.
Paul Cornu. (wikipedia.org)
In RussiaAnother breakthrough occurred in 1911, and this breakthrough was made by our compatriot Boris Yuriev. He created a drawing of a swashplate - a mechanism for controlling a helicopter propeller. A drawing of a single-rotor aircraft with a tail rotor has been published. By the way, the mechanism developed by Yuryev is still used on most modern helicopters. Boris Yuriev was not the first of our compatriots to think about creating a helicopter. The first, in all likelihood, was Mikhail Lomonosov. Back in the 18th century, he created a model of an aircraft with a main rotor. The machine proposed by Lomonsov was generally very similar to modern helicopters, but the time for these devices had not yet come.
And it came in 1932. It was then that the first Russian helicopter, designed by engineer Alexei Cheremukhin, took off. This machine climbed to heights of more than 600 meters - for that time it was an absolute record.
Boris Yuriev. (wikipedia.org)
Helicopters
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the planet was experiencing an air bom. It was difficult for the helicopter to compete with the popularity of the aircraft. Moreover, the former were already in full swing across the heavens, and the latter existed only on paper. Many helicopter projects simply did not receive the financial support they needed. In 1922, however, the mechanic Georgy Botezat, a Russian émigré living in the United States, was very fortunate. The United States Army commissioned him to build a stable, steerable vertical takeoff vehicle. And Botezat created such a machine. She was able to rise to a height of five meters and stayed in the air for several minutes. From the point of view of science, this, of course, was a breakthrough, however, this was not enough for the army.
Further development
On April 24, Argentinean Raul Pescara proved that the idea of helicopters is not at all unpromising and that such devices can stay in the air for a long time. A mechanical engineer flew 736 meters in his car. The success of the Argentinean was widely covered in the press and became known far beyond the borders of South America and gave impetus to the development of helicopter construction.
"Pescara-3". (wikipedia.org)
A couple of months later, the Frenchman Emile Amichen stayed in the air for more than seven minutes, flying in a circle of 1100 meters during this time. In 1930, a group of Italian inventors constructed a helicopter that flew the same distance, but in a straight line. In our country, the first flight was made in 1932 by Alexei Cheremukhov. On a 1-EA helicopter, he took off 600 meters. Three more years passed and Louis Berge, the one who can be considered one of the fathers of the helicopter, will create an ultra-fast (at that time) apparatus. This device will be the first in history to overcome the speed limit of 100 kilometers per hour and once and for all put skeptics to shame. After that, no one doubted that helicopters really have a future. The military, by the way, stopped doubting earlier than others. By the beginning of the 30s, many engineers and mechanics received serious orders from them for the development of such machines.
State of the art
It's hard to imagine a modern world without helicopters. They are used not only for military purposes, but also in rescue operations, for medical transportation and, of course, for the entertainment of tourists.
Russian-made helicopters take the leading place in the world. They are produced by the Russian Helicopters holding, which is part of the Rostec State Corporation. Thus, the State Corporation managed to unite the enterprises that worked in the industry and revive the Russian helicopter industry. One of the most famous Russian helicopters created by Rostec is the famous Mi-8. This car is more than 50 years old, but the demand for it is still not decreasing. Well, the most important achievement of recent years was the creation of the Mi-28N helicopter, which is also known as the "Night Hunter". This is a combat helicopter capable of hitting targets at a distance of more than 8 kilometers. "Night Hunter" is highly regarded in the world. In a number of combat characteristics, it surpasses the famous American Apache helicopter.
On January 13, 1942, the Sikorsky helicopter took off for the first time - the world's first helicopter designed for military purposes. The scientist-aircraft designer Igor Sikorsky began the development of helicopters in pre-revolutionary Russia, and realized them already while in exile in the United States. Today, in our review, there are ten of the most famous military helicopters.
The first Sikorsky helicopter VS-300 took off in 1939. The designer personally piloted the car. The VS-300 had a completely primitive appearance, and the fuselage did not even have a skin. The pilot sat in a small seat completely open, right in front of the engine. Initially, the helicopter was powered by a 65 horsepower Lycoming engine that propelled a three-blade propeller. The helicopter was heavy to fly, vibrated strongly and stayed in the air for only a few seconds.
Sikorsky continued his development and in January 1942 presented the R-4 "Hoverfly" helicopter. The helicopter could reach speeds of up to 120 km / h and fly 180 km, climbing with one pilot to an altitude of 3650 meters (2800 meters with two pilots). The mission of the first military helicopter is communications and rescue operations. The Sikorsky R-4 Hoverfly has been in service with the United States since 1942 and since 1945 in service with the UK. Military aircraft operated this helicopter in Alaska and during the Burma War, where the R-4 supported the advancement of American forces in the jungle, delivering cargo and messages and evacuating the wounded. The R-4 was retired from service in the late 1940s.
The first Soviet serial helicopter was the MI-1. In flight and technical characteristics, the Mi-1 resembled the famous American Sikorsky S-51 helicopter (1949). But if the American helicopter was produced in a small series and did not take long to build, then the Mi-1 helicopters were widely used in the national economy and in the armed forces of the USSR, as well as other countries where the helicopter was exported.
Since 1954, Mi-1 helicopters have been produced in Orenburg, later in Rostov, and since 1957 they have been produced under license in Poland. In total, more than 2.5 thousand Mi-2 helicopters were built. In the period from 1958 to 1968, this helicopter set 27 international records, including a speed record (141.392 km / h), an altitude record (6700 m) and a flight range (1654.571 km). Mi-1 is still in operation in many countries of the world.
The Mi-8 helicopter was put into production in 1965. The history of this machine began in 1958, when Nikita Khrushchev summoned designer Mikhail Mil to the Kremlin and offered to go to the United States to purchase several helicopters from Sikorsky's company, and most importantly, to inspect production and find out the capabilities of American machines.
The Mi-8 helicopter was equipped with two 1500-horsepower engines with a 12-stage compressor, an annular direct-flow combustion chamber and a 2-stage axial turbine. In the event of a failure of one of the engines, the other automatically reached increased power, due to which the machine performed vertical flight without lowering the altitude. In addition to 3 crew members, the helicopter could take on board 24 paratroopers or 28 passengers and transfer them to a distance of up to 425 km at a cruising speed of 225 km / h. The maximum speed of the Mi-8 is 250 km / h.
In June 1965, the USSR presented the Mi-8 at the international air show in Le Bourget, and the helicopter became a real sensation.
Over the 50 years of the aircraft's existence, more than 12 thousand Mi-8s of various modifications have been produced. The latest military modification of this helicopter, the Mi-8AMTSh "Terminator", is designed to combat armored surface, ground, mobile and stationary small-sized targets, to transport troops, military cargo, wounded, to defeat enemy personnel, as well as for evacuation and search operations. rescue work.
In November 1986, the Soviet Ka-31 helicopter took off, which has no analogues in the world helicopter industry. Its main feature is the ability to conduct a radar patrol. The helicopter can be based on ships, or it can be used in a land-based version to solve air defense missions for ground forces.
A radio-electronic complex is installed on board the Ka-31, which makes it possible to conduct an automated helicopter flight in any climatic and weather conditions along a programmed route, to detect and take up to 20 targets for auto-tracking. At the same time, the helicopter transmits information about the targets to the control points via the telecode communication channel.
The helicopter today has no analogues in terms of its combat characteristics. It is capable of detecting air targets of the "airplane-helicopter" type at distant lines at extremely low flight altitudes. The helicopter is also used for the detection of surface ships and their escort. The ship-based Ka-31 helicopter is capable of protecting formations of warships from air strikes that operate outside the zone of AWACS aircraft and coastal radars. The Ka-31 is currently in service with the Russian Federation and India.
The Soviet Ka-50 helicopter, a prototype of which took to the air in the summer of 1982, became the world's first helicopter with an ejection seat, providing the rescue of a pilot in any flight mode. The safety of the pilot in this car was given a special place: the cockpit is fully armored using spaced metal plates, the total weight of which exceeds 300 kg. Tests have shown that the protection of the pilot is guaranteed when 12.7 mm bullets and fragments of 20 mm shells hit the side of the vehicle.
The tests of this helicopter were kept in the strictest confidence. They were tested not far from Moscow, in full view of many curious people. Therefore, the OKB specialists went for original camouflage measures: the combat vehicle was turned into a transport vehicle, additional windows and doors were painted on the sides of the fuselage with bright yellow paint.
The first baptism of fire of the Ka-50 helicopter took place during the anti-terrorist operation of the Russian army in Chechnya in January 2001. The vehicle is capable of performing combat missions in the most difficult mountain conditions, demonstrating its power-to-weight ratio and maneuverability in battle.
The Mi-26 is the world's largest multipurpose transport helicopter used in both civil and military aviation. The first Mi-26 took off in 1977. Today, the helicopter, nicknamed the "flying cow" by the pilots, is the largest helicopter in the world. It is capable of lifting up to 20 tons of cargo into the air, and not only on board, but also on an external sling. For heavy loads, a winch is provided that can lift loads up to 500 kg. The helicopter can accommodate 82 paratroopers or 60 stretchers with the wounded. The maximum speed of the car is 295 km / h.
The helicopter of the XXI century is considered by many to be the Sikorsky UH-60 "Black Hawk" helicopter, created 40 years ago. With a carrying capacity of 1500 kg on board or up to 4000 kg on an external sling, it takes on board 14 fighters. Today there is a basic land version of the UH-60 and 2 anti-submarine versions - SH-60F Ocean Hawk and SH-60B Sea Hawk. There is also a line of deck helicopters, fire support helicopters, special operations vehicles, ambulance versions and jammers. The Sikorsky UH-60 is used as a command helicopter for generals and high-ranking officials. Today this helicopter is actively exported.
The iconic Apache helicopter gained fame in Operation Desert Storm, where, according to NATO officials, it successfully fought tanks, and became the prototype for a whole class of modern combat helicopters. This helicopter is regularly used by the IDF Air Force. The helicopter is equipped with 16 Hellfire anti-tank missiles, Stinger missile systems for air combat and a 30 mm built-in automatic cannon.
Experts say that today the Russian Mi-28N Night Hunter has thrown an open challenge to the Apache in flight performance characteristics. And in 2002, an export version of the Mi-24 with modern avionics of the DPRK Air Force shot down the South Korean Apache from an ambush. South Korea admitted the loss and demanded that the US hold a free park of its "Apaches". The dispute has not yet been resolved. American helicopters have even become a source of inspiration for the designers who created the collection.
The Huey helicopter, along with napalm, has become a symbol of the Vietnam War. These helicopters were "home" for the American military - they delivered them to positions, supplied them with provisions and ammunition, brought up equipment and evacuated them from the battlefield.
According to statistics, over the 11 years of the war, the Huey flew 36 million sorties. If we take into account that 3 thousand vehicles did not return to the base, it turns out that there was 1 irrecoverable loss for 18 thousand sorties. The result is unique! And this despite the fact that the "Huey" had no reservation at all.
Mi-24 is a Soviet combat transport helicopter, the first flight of which took place in 1969. In NATO, he received the code name "Doe" (Hind), and the American experts passed the verdict: the Mi-24 is not a helicopter.
Although outwardly the Mi-24 looks like a helicopter and is used like a helicopter, from a technical point of view, it is a hybrid. He cannot take off from a "patch". Its visually disproportionately large pylons are actually wings. The Mi-24 was designed as a "flying infantry fighting vehicle". And the designers managed to turn the heavy armored helicopter into one of the fastest combat helicopters in the world (it can reach speeds of up to 320 km / h).
"Crocodile" took part in hostilities in the Pamir Mountains, in the gorges of the Caucasus, in the tropical forests of Equatorial Africa and in the sultry Asian deserts. Fighting glory came to him in Afghanistan. This unique rotary-wing attack aircraft became a symbol of that war. One of the Afghan mujahideen in an interview with the American news channel about "Crocodile" said: "We are not afraid of the Russians, but we are afraid of their helicopters." The Mi-24 is the only helicopter in the world that shot down a combat aircraft in an aerial battle (F-4 Phantom fighter)
(pioneer period until the beginning of the 20th century)V.R. MIKHEEV Candidate of Engineering Sciences Institute of the History of Natural Science and Technology RAS
The history of the development of rotary-wing aircraft in our country goes back several centuries. Many prominent minds of Russia were interested in the problem of lifting into the air with the help of the main rotor. A critical analysis of the history of domestic and foreign helicopter construction shows that Russian aviation pioneers did not lag behind, and often significantly surpassed their foreign colleagues in the breadth of research and the level of project development.
A children's toy "flying stick", which is a rod with a screw attached to the upper end, which is untwisted by hands and released into the air, has been known since the Middle Ages. This idea of lifting into the air with the help of a main rotor subsequently stimulated the development of the first rotary-wing machines.
The great Russian thinker Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov built in 1754 an "airfield machine" to study the upper layers of the atmosphere. The original image of the "machine" has not survived, but on the basis of archival materials, it can be concluded that the great scientist created a small helicopter with a twin-rotor coaxial scheme. Meteorological instruments were located in the fuselage capsule "suspended" under the two-bladed rotor propellers. It was the world's first small helicopter designed for practical use. Unfortunately, the level of development of science and technology was still insufficient to create a small flying vehicle, and the "airfield machine" did not take off. Abroad, the first attempts to build helicopters began only three decades later and were equally unsuccessful.
The works of Lomonosov, like those of his other like-minded contemporaries, did not receive wide recognition and development. The time of interest in the development of heavier-than-air aircraft came only in the second half of the 19th century, when the systematic development of projects and attempts to build small-sized and full-scale flying machines began in enlightened Europe and America.
The first mentions of domestic developments of rotary-wing aircraft after Lomonosov date back to the 60s of the last century. These are the models of the enthusiast M. Saulyak (1861) and the famous aviation pioneer V.V. Kress (1864), as well as the proposals of the journalist A.V. Ewald and mining engineer P. Alekseev. V.V. Kress was one of the first in the world to draw attention to the advisability of giving the blade a concave shape. Ewald was the first to propose a multi-mode rotor designed for both helicopter and wind turbine modes.
At the same time, Mikhail Aleksandrovich Rykachev, a prominent meteorological scientist (later academician), began his work on the experimental study of rotors. Having built a stand for testing rotor models at his own expense, Rykachev measured the developed lift and the power expended by changing the angle of the blades and the rotor speed. His experiments had a great influence on the formation and development of domestic experimental aerodynamic research, laying the foundation for systematic research on helicopter topics in Russia. With the study of the helicopter propeller, the national scientific school of aviation began to form. The Russian military department also became interested in aviation, but it was reasonably in no hurry to finance pioneering, sometimes utopian projects.
In 1869, a young Tula worker, the future outstanding inventor and electrical engineer A.N. Lodygin. Insufficient study of the project was the reason for his refusal to support, and the young inventor went to France, the government of which, suffering defeats in the war with Germany, agreed "out of despair" to finance Lodygin's project. The defeat of France prevented the completion of the construction of the Electrolet. Thus ended the first attempt of our compatriot to build a helicopter.
By the end of the 70s, the idea of a helicopter became famous throughout the Russian Empire. This is evidenced by the projects of the inventors K.P. Yaroshevsky from Bessarabia (1875), V.P. Bogorodsky from Voronezh (1878), I.P. Yuvenaleva from Saratov (1880), M. Karmanov (1882) from Warsaw and others. The level of development of projects has increased significantly. Yuvenalyev's developments are the first helicopter projects in Russia with a well-thought-out layout. Karmanov tested a "jump" take-off on propeller models, which was later used on gyroplanes.
The Russian engineer I. Melikov developed in 1879 in Paris the world's first project of a helicopter with a turbine as an engine. Prototypes of a flying platform with lifting screws in annular channels and a convertible vehicle with a vertical position of the fuselage at the start were proposed in the early 80s by the famous Petersburg inventor S.I. Baranovsky.
Doctor S.A. Notkin in 1887 for the first time made a strength calculation of the structural parts of the projected helicopter. The following year, the Smolensk official I.Z. Ratsievich sent to the Department of Trade and Manufactures the first patent application in Russia for a rotorcraft project. The project of his helicopter did not differ in originality, in contrast to the elaborate project of the Muscovite I.I.Sytin, which entered the Department two years later.
Another Muscovite, Ivan Osipovich Yarkovsky, conducted fundamental tests of rotor propellers in those same years, comparable in depth of research to the achievements of his famous contemporary, pioneer of American aviation, S. Langley. After analyzing the huge accumulated empirical material, Yarkovsky plotted the dependence of the lift and resistance on the angle of installation and area of the blades, the rotor speed, and concluded that a small angle of installation of the blade is advisable.
By the end of the last century, Russian helicopter industry pioneers have created a number of interesting aircraft projects containing the rudiments of aerodynamic, strength and energy calculations. Possessing empirical ideas about the characteristics and parametric dependences of rotor propellers, advanced for their era, they came close to the development of life-size helicopters.
The center of Russian scientific and design aviation thought at the end of the 19th century was the aeronautical department of the Imperial Russian Technical Society. Here the flower of the Russian scientific and technical intelligentsia gathered - the leading Russian scientists and engineers, many of whom were staunch supporters of lifting into the air with the help of the main rotor. A fundamental analysis of the results of domestic and foreign research on the theory of helicopter was done in 1892 by one of the heads of the department, E.S. Fedorov.
In the same year, the founder of the department, an outstanding Russian scientist and inventor S.N. Drzewiecki first published the beginnings of his famous theory of the "blade element", which for many years was the main guide for the selection of parameters of propellers and rotors. Member of the Technical Society B.D. "Potemkin was the first to start building a helicopter in the late 80s of the XIX century. However, his three-seater" portable helicopter-captif (tethered helicopter) "was never built. Probably, the inventor did not advance further experiments with the power plant of the helicopter.
Interesting results were achieved by the marine engineer and inventor Pavel Dmitrievich Kuzminsky. He was one of the organizers and most active employees of the aeronautical department of the Technical Society. Of all types of aircraft, the inventor considered the helicopter the most expedient, the project of which he developed in the early 90s. Kuzminsky called his transverse twin-rotor helicopter Rusolet, and the high-speed rotors designed for it - Rusoids. The conical spiral "rusoid" was a modification of the "Archimedean screw". From a modern point of view, its use as a rotor was impractical due to its low aerodynamic efficiency, but at that time the problem of expediency was not yet on the agenda. The calculations of Kuzminsky, a recognized specialist in hydromechanics and shipbuilding, aroused a favorable attitude from a number of opponents, and the aeronautical department allocated funds in 1892 for experiments with the Rusoid.
For reasons beyond his control, Kuzminsky could not immediately start building and testing the "Rusoid" and spent the funds allocated to him by the department for the construction of an experimental engine, correctly believing that the creation of a light power plant is just as important a condition for the implementation of an efficient aircraft as a highly efficient one. main rotor. The inventor called the original engine of his own design "gas vapor". It was the world's first gas-steam turbine engine.
Simultaneously with Kuzminsky, two other Russian engineers attempted to build a helicopter. Warsaw electrical engineer Stanislav Antonovich Grokhovsky designed in 1891 a twin-screw aircraft of a transverse circuit with an electric motor. It was one of the first projects in the world that took into account the need to control and balance forces and moments relative to all three axes, not only when flying at forward speed, but also in specific helicopter flight modes: vertical takeoff and landing, as well as hovering. ...
Starting the construction of the helicopter. Grokhovsky first of all built the entire dynamic system (transmission and rotors), after testing which he intended to build the rest of the parts. The device remained unfinished, since, not believing in the possibility of using heavy electric motors on aircraft, the official authorities refused to support Grokhovsky's work.
In the last years of the 19th century, the outstanding Russian metallurgical scientist Dmitry Konstantinovich Chernov (1839-1921) tried to build another helicopter, also of a twin-screw transverse scheme with an electric motor. The development of the project was preceded by research on the main rotor at the stand. He published the scientific substantiation of the choice of the rotorcraft scheme, as well as the rational shape of the blades with a large relative elongation, in a brochure, which was a striking event in the history of the development of Russian aviation scientific thought. Limited financial resources did not allow Chernov to carry out the planned construction.
One more attempt to build a rotary-wing aircraft, undertaken at the end of the 19th century, should be mentioned. In 1895, a modest official of the Ministry of Finance, Viktor Viktorovich Kotov, demonstrated successfully flying models, including the world's first autogyro glider, at a meeting of the aeronautical department of the Imperial Russian Technical Society. The department decided to support the inventor in the construction of similar manned gliders, but the death of Kotov prevented this undertaking.
Thus, all the first attempts of domestic designers to build a helicopter in the 19th century were unsuccessful. The level of development of science and technology was still insufficient for lifting into the air by means of the main rotor. Of course, it was possible to "ascend to the heavens" in a balloon, but its control was extremely difficult, the balloon remained a "toy of the wind." A lecturer at Kharkov University, Doctor of Medicine Konstantin Yakovlevich Danilevsky tried to find a way out of this situation by creating a hybrid aircraft. The aerostatic balloon included in the hybrid was supposed to create a lifting force slightly less than the own weight of the equipped vehicle. The missing lifting force was supposed to be created by the rotor, thanks to which it was possible to do without the ballast and gas release characteristic of aeronautics.
In 1899, Danilevsky built an apparatus with an aerostatic balloon and two transversely located main rotors, driven by the muscular force of an aeronaut, and made a series of small ascents into the air on his apparatus. This was the first practical use of rotors in Russia to create lift. A system of rotating aerodynamic surfaces was located under the balloon of this apparatus. performing two functions: wing and rudder. During the ascent and descent, an aerodynamic force arose on appropriately set surfaces, providing a translational movement.
In parallel with the traditional metropolitan scientific school, a scientific school began to form in Moscow. Non-leader Professor Nikolai Yegorovich Zhukovsky paid great attention to the development of problems in helicopter construction, considering the rotorcraft to be the most promising type of air vehicle. Back in the 80s of the XIX century, he experimented with models of helicopters. In 1890, in his very first published work "To the theory of flying", devoted to theoretical issues of aviation, Zhukovsky presented his considerations on calculating the thrust and power of the main rotor. Various issues of helicopter construction were considered by him in his work "On aeronautics" in 1898.
When determining the direction of work of the aerodynamic laboratories of Moscow University (1902) and the Kuchin Institute (1904), the scientist paid special attention to the organization of experimental studies of the characteristics of rotor propellers, and directed the creation of special test stands. Research carried out in the newly organized aerodynamic laboratories contributed to the emergence of new scientific works of Zhukovsky "On the payload lifted by a helicopter", "The theory of propeller.
working only in tension "," On propellers that do not bend "(1904) and" Theory of a propeller with a large number of blades "(1907), which laid the foundations of the domestic theory of aerodynamic and energy design of helicopters and the design of blades with flexible butt. In addition to scientific and experimental research, the scientist was engaged in the development of projects for rotary-wing machines: a heavy eight screw and light "Moth".
Among the analytical works on the theory of rotary-wing aircraft, the brochure by D. Chumakov, published in 1901 in Ashgabat, "Foundations for solving the problem of aeronautics," providing control and balancing of the helicopter.
At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, a number of projects appeared with a thoroughly thought-out layout, design of units and parts, simplified strength, aerodynamic and energy calculations. The inventors of rotary-wing aircraft made significant progress in the field of development and presented about the problems of stability and controllability. We are talking about the projects of the mining engineer S.M. Konigsberg (1893), associate of N.E. Zhukovsky S.S. Nezhdanovsky (1894-1896), an employee of the Main Engineering Directorate of the Russian Army, mechanical engineer JI. d "Andre (1895), foreman of the Sestroretsk arms factory V.P. Konovalov (1895), retired colonel II.M. Yanushev from Tashkent (1902), teacher A.V. Yablonev (1902) from Ryazhsk, chief engineer of the Putilov plant P.P. Lipkovsky (1902-1904) and others.
In the projects of d'Andre and Yanushev, the design of the transmission was especially carefully worked out, in the projects of Yablonev. Yanushev and Lipkovsky - the control system. Yablonev was the first in the history of helicopter engineering and one of the first in aviation to develop the design of an autopilot, the main element of which is a gyroscope. Yanushev was the first to design navigation equipment for his apparatus. Due to the absence of a light and reliable aircraft engine at that time, the authors of almost all projects proposed power plants of an original design.
The research of Sergei Sergeevich Nezhdanovsky occupies a particularly prominent place among the pioneering Russian works in the field of helicopter engineering. He was one of the first in the world to suggest using an internal combustion engine as a power plant in a helicopter. The indisputable priority belongs to Nezhdanovsky in the development and proposal of ramjet engines for installation at the ends of the rotor blades. Subsequently, the engineer was the first in the world to develop a jet compressor drive of the propeller with afterburning at the ends of the blades. Designing single-rotor aircraft with a jet drive, Nezhdanovsky developed various schemes for their path balancing and control, many of which had not been previously proposed by anyone in the world.
Known for his numerous inventions in the field of transport technology, Iosif Iosifovich Lipkovsky became interested in aviation and developed several projects of coaxial twin-rotor helicopters at the beginning of the 20th century. The main rotor was supposed to be two-bladed with an angle between the leading and trailing edges of more than 180 degrees. as a result, when stopped, they could serve as parachutes.
The engineer began to create a life-size helicopter in 1904 at the Putilovsky plant. To begin with, he built one full-scale main rotor of a relatively large size (16 m) and measured the lift generated by it. The result is incredibly high. Doubting it. Specialists of the Main Engineering Directorate of the Russian Army forwarded the drawings and calculations of P.I. Lipkovsky to N.E. Zhukovsky. "The father of Russian aviation" noted the irrationally chosen shape of the blades, the overestimated efficiency of the main rotor and the underestimated weight of the structure. The military department refrained from supporting the construction. Another attempt by the Russian inventor to build a helicopter ended in failure.
In addition to deeply thought-out projects. admirable breadth of coverage of problems of the helicopter industry. at this time, more simple sentences appeared. containing, however, a number of interesting ideas. So, a handicraftsman from Sergiev Posad N.M. In 1899 Mitriaykn sent to the military department a mock-up of a musculo-helicopter "aeronautic bicycle", which he proposed to use in order "... to take out the wounded from the battlefield soon, without shaking or shaking," that is, as a sanitary-evacuation facilities. Don Cossack A.Ya. Smirnov in the same year sent a draft of a flying machine, which was a prototype of future "backpack" helicopters for individual use. In 1900, a military official of the Ust-Dvinsk fortress, Kuzmin, designed a prototype of a swashplate to control the total and cyclic pitch of the helicopter rotor blades. Subsequently, he built a model of the swashplate and tested its work on the main rotor model.
By the beginning of the 20th century, more than 40 projects of rotary-wing aircraft were created by Russian designers, proposals were made to use an internal combustion engine as a power plant, theoretical and experimental studies were carried out to determine the parameters of rotor propellers, various balancing and control schemes were proposed in the main flight modes, design of a number of units. Many constructive solutions were put forward for the first time and represented a domestic priority.
Unfortunately, the level of development of science and technology did not allow then these solutions to be tested on devices manufactured in full size. The time of their creation came much later, at the end of the first decade of the 20th century. The experience of the pioneer stage of the domestic helicopter industry immediately preceded the beginning of the widespread construction of the first Russian helicopters.
However, this machine is not a helicopter in the modern sense. ... It was only in the XX century that it received its practical implementation.
In 1853-1860 in France, Ponton d'Amecourt developed a project of a flying machine - "Aeronef". Aeronef was supposed to rise up with the help of two screws mounted on one vertical axis and rotating in opposite directions.
The first ever vertical flight took place on August 24 (according to other sources, September 29) 1907 and lasted one minute. The helicopter, built by the brothers Louis & Jacques Bréguet under the guidance of Professor Charles Richet, took off 50 cm. The device weighed 578 kg and was equipped with a 45 hp Antoinette engine. The Gyroplane had 4 main propellers with a diameter of 8.1 m, each propeller consisted of eight blades, connected in pairs in the form of four rotating biplane wings. The total thrust of all propellers was 560-600 kg. The maximum flight altitude in hover mode - 1.525 m was reached on September 29. There is also evidence that in 1905 the Frenchman M. Leger created an apparatus with two oppositely rotating propellers, which could be lifted off the ground for some time.
The first person to fly in a helicopter was the French bicycle manufacturer Paul Cornu. On November 13, he built a helicopter, which lifted him vertically into the air to a height of 50 cm and hung in the air for 20 seconds. Cornu's main achievement was an attempt to make the helicopter controllable (it cannot be said, however, that this attempt was crowned with complete success), for which the inventor installed special surfaces under the propellers, which, reflecting the air flow from the propellers, gave the device a certain amount of maneuverability. But this helicopter was poorly controlled.
The helicopter in the modern sense of the word before the war was called "helicopter". This word was borrowed from the French language (fr. hélicoptère) already at the end of the 19th century.
The word "helicopter" appeared in 1929, when it was applied by N. I. Kamov to the KASKR-1 autogyro, which, however, was not a helicopter in the modern sense of the word. The same meaning is recorded in Ushakov's dictionary: “a helicopter, and m.(new aviation). The same as a gyroplane. " Apparently, the word "helicopter" was created in the likeness of the French "gyroplane" (which has the same meaning and has existed since 1907), in the same way as by analogy with "aéroplane" (then still in use in French), the "airplane ". That is, the first element "vert-" (from the word "twirl") corresponds to the French "gyro-", which goes back to the Greek "γῦρος".
The statement of L.A. Vvedenskaya and N.P. Kolesnikov does not seem to be true that “when they invented an aircraft that does not need a takeoff run before takeoff, since it is able to rise vertically and fly from any platform, then the word was created for its name helicopter (vert ikalno + years et) ”, especially since the KASKR-1, which is an autogyro, could not rise vertically.
Another option is two large rotors rotating in opposite directions on the same axis. The second rotor is called an aerodynamically symmetrical coaxial main rotor. This variant is used, for example, in the Russian Ka-50. Helicopters of such a scheme show a higher thrust-to-weight ratio, however, if the design is insufficiently thought out, they may have an increased probability of the propeller blades clashing during a sharp lateral maneuver.
There are also helicopters that use the Coanda effect (adhesion of a jet of liquid or gas to a solid surface) to compensate for the torque without additional screws.
The maximum speed of the helicopter is limited due to the inadmissibility of constant achievement of the speed of sound at the extreme sections of the blades (the total maximum speed at the edge of the blade is equal to the radius of the rotor rotation disk multiplied by revolutions per second + the speed of the helicopter itself), which would lead to the destruction of the structure.
When the helicopter is flying forward, the forward blades have a higher velocity relative to the air than the backward ones. As a result, one of the rotor halves creates more lift than the other, and the helicopter turns sideways. To prevent this from happening, a compensation mechanism built into the swashplate is used so that the angle of inclination of the blades in the left and right halves of the propeller is different.
