As history shows, authorship of many important inventions is not so easy or even impossible to establish. After all, the same ideas can arise in people who are separated by centuries or thousands of kilometers. The same is true with respect to the question of who invented the first helicopter, since it is known about many talented scientists, engineers and designers who proposed various concepts for creating aircraft with vertical take-off.
Background
It is difficult to say exactly in which year the helicopter was invented, since it is difficult to determine a reference point. If we talk about the idea of a device that rises vertically top thanks to a rotating screw, then the oldest written mention of such an object is more than 1600 years old. It was a small children's toy in the form of a stick with a screw on the end, which was clamped between the palms, gave rotation and released, after which it briefly soared up. No practical application of this invention was found then, and it was forgotten for a long time.
Leonardo da Vinci
Although the name of the greatest genius of the Renaissance does not appear among those who are called when answering the question of who invented the helicopter, one of the drawings made by his hand in 1475 contains an aircraft with a huge propeller. Leonardo suggested that such a mechanism should fly vertically if its propeller was set in motion using the muscular strength of the pilot.
M. Lomonosov
After 270 years, the mechanism, which with a stretch can be called the prototype of a mini-helicopter, was invented in Russia. Its author was Mikhail Lomonosov, who decided to create an apparatus capable of raising thermometers and other instruments necessary for conducting meteorological studies to a great height. It is known that a model was launched that was launched from a spring mechanism, but its tests were not successful. Be that as it may, although there is no reason to believe that M. Lomonosov was the first to invent the helicopter, he invented the principle of extinguishing reactive torque on rotorcraft is still used and is considered a recognized classic.
First vertical flight
In 1860, in France, G. Ponton d'Amecourt created an aeronef aircraft , which had two coaxial propellers and was equipped with a steam engine. His tests were not successful, and the machine was unable to complete the vertical ascent, as its inventor hoped.
The situation changed with the advent of gasoline engines, which were more powerful and weighed less than steam engines. September 29, 1907 the first vertical flight in history took place. It was made by the unmanned vehicle Gyroplane, built by Louis and Jacques Breguet with the theoretical support of Professor S. Richet. It lasted less than a minute. At the same time, the machine was able to take off only 50 cm from the ground. Despite success, most experts believe that when answering the question of who invented the helicopter, you can’t name the creators of the Gyroplane, since its flight was not controlled, and the device itself the moment of rise was on a leash.
First manned flight
In 1907, the Frenchman Paul Cornu was the first to invent a helicopter that took its creator into the air. The machine was in flight for only 2 seconds and reached a height of 50 cm. At the same time, Kornu tried to control the device, but we cannot say that he succeeded.
Further history of the invention of the helicopter
For several years, designers and engineers have not been able to solve the problem of controlling such aircraft. The turning point occurred in 1911, when B.N. Yuriev became the one who invented the helicopter with the tail rotor. The mechanism of the latter is used in the field of aircraft construction to this day.
In 1922, Professor G. Botezat, who emigrated from Russia to the United States after the revolution, built the world's first stably controlled helicopter by order of the American army. However, rising into the air to a height of 5 m, he was able to be in flight only a few minutes.
Advances in Helicopter Engineering
In subsequent years, several records were set for the duration and range of flights. Among them are:
- the record of the Argentinean Raul Pateras Pescara, who overcame a distance of 736 m by helicopter of his own design;
- the longest flight at that time (1924) lasting 7 minutes 40 s, completed by the Frenchman E. Amishen;
- the record of the Italian helicopter d'Ascanio, covering a distance of over 1 km in 1930;
- speed record (100 km / h), established in 1935 by the aircraft Gyroplane.
Who invented the first helicopter in the world?
It is believed that in response to this question, the name of the scientist-aircraft designer Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky should be called. Long before the invention of his main creation - the world's first production helicopter - he created the most advanced 4-engine Russian Knight aircraft at that time. In addition, he also holds primacy in the design of transatlantic seaplanes.
Back in 1931, Sikorsky patented the design of an aircraft, the design of which was fundamentally not much different from the helicopter models used today. In particular, he suggested using 2 propellers: the main one on the roof and the auxiliary one on the tail.
The first experimental Sikorsky helicopter - VS-300, controlled by himself, took to the sky in September 1939. It was a steel pipe of large diameter with an open cockpit for the pilot. The aircraft had a capacity of 65 liters. from. and was equipped with a Lycoming engine rotating a 3-blade main rotor.
Further success of Sikorsky
In mid-spring 1941, the aircraft designer made a presentation of the world's first amphibious helicopter on a float landing gear, which is a modification of the already famous VS-300 aircraft at that time. The rotorcraft took off from the surface of the water and landed successfully on land. The duration of his flight was 1 hour 35 minutes, and the speed reached 100 km per hour.
Subsequently, the aircraft designer created 18 types of helicopters, which began to be mass-produced. In addition, he designed turbine models, amphibians with retractable landing gears, as well as the so-called flying cranes. The helicopters created by Sikorsky carried out transantlantic and trans-Pacific flights with refueling in the air. The car was used for a wide variety of purposes. Sikorsky completed his career before retiring with the creation of the S-58 helicopter, which is rightly considered the best helicopter of the 1st generation.
Now you know why it is generally accepted that Igor Sikorsky invented the first helicopter. At the same time, it is impossible to belittle the merits of other engineers and designers who have devoted many years of their lives to the creation and improvement of rotary-wing aircraft.