Spotlight on Mark II Histories

[Pat Marshall]

In December 1955, Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky

1918-Igor Sikorsky.jpg

purchased Marki II #C56B1918 from Bridgeport Lincoln-Mercury, Inc, Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Sikorsky, was a Russian-American pioneer of aviation in both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. He designed and flew the world's first multi-engine fixed-wing aircraft, the Russky Vityaz in 1913,

1918 Sikorsky Russky Vityaz.jpg

and the first airliner, Ilya Muromets, in 1914

1918 Sikorsky S-22 Ilya Muromets.jpg

After immigrating to the United States in 1919, Sikorsky founded the Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation in 1923, and developed the first of Pan American Airways' ocean-conquering flying boats in the 1930s

1918 Sikorsky S42 Flying Boat.jpg

In 1939 he designed and flew the Vought-Sikorsky VS-300, the first viable American helicopter, which pioneered the rotor configuration used by most helicopters today. Sikorsky would modify the design into the Sikorsky R-4, which became the world's first mass-produced helicopter in 1942.
Sikorsky's final VS-300 rotor configuration, comprising a single main rotor and a single antitorque tail rotor, has proven to be one of the most popular helicopter configurations, being used in most helicopters produced today

1918 Sikorsky VS-300 Helicopter.jpg

Sikorsky died at his home in Easton, Connecticut, on October 26, 1972, and is buried in Saint John the Baptist Russian Orthodox Cemetery located on Nichols Avenue in Stratford

Mark II #1918 has been owned since 2000 by LCOC Member Brad Luse of Tivoli, New York. In 2012 Brad reported that the car "was originally purchased by Egor Sigkorski (heliocopters) but the nose wrecked at 35,000 miles."

Source-Wikipedia
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