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It was Igor Sikorsky, a Russian-born aeronautical engineer, who developed the first machine with all of the qualities we associate with modern helicopters. Interestingly, Sikorsky’s early helicopters – circa 1910 – were failures, and he abandoned his efforts so he could focus on fixed-wing aeroplanes.

After emigrating to the United States and starting Sikorsky Aviation Corporation in Bridgeport, Connecticut, he once again turned his attention to vertical flight.

In 1931, Sikorsky submitted a patent for a modern-looking helicopter design featuring a single main rotor and tail rotor. Eight years later, the first incarnation of this design – the VS-300 – lifted Sikorsky into the air.

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Other engineers and innovations quickly followed. Notable among the early helicopter pioneers were Arthur Young, Frank Piasecki and Stanley Hiller.

Young, backed by Bell Aircraft Corp, developed the Bell 30 helicopter and then the Bell 47, the first commercially certified helicopter.

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