IDENTIFIED HIMSELF UKRAINIAN | ВВАЖАВ СЕБЕ УКРАЇНЦЕМ

ENG | УКР

Aviation History Magazine:

Igor Sikorsky, scientist, engineer, pilot and businessman, was a pioneer in aircraft design who is best known for his successful development of the helicopter.

Sikorsky was fascinated with flight even as a child in Russia, and a 1908 meeting with the Wright brothers determined the course of his life in aviation. After two early helicopter designs failed, Sikorsky turned his attention to fixed-wing aircraft. By 1913 he had developed the Il’ya Muromets, four-engine passenger aircraft that were converted to bombers for use in WWI.

The Bolshevik Revolution forced Sikorsky and his family to emigrate to America in 1919 where he established the Sikorsky Aero Engineering Corporation in New York. Over the next 20 years, Sikorsky’s company built passenger planes and flying boats, including the S-40 American Clipper that was used to open new air routes across the Pacific.

In the 1930s Sikorsky turned his attention again to helicopter design and on September 14, 1939, Sikorsky himself flew the VS-300 on its first test flight. Igor Sikorsky, shown here in the greenhouse nose of his 1943 XR-5, died on October 26, 1972.

* * *

Someone should explain to whoever wrote this text that Igor Sikorsky was born, grew up, got educated and started his career in UKRAINE.

Living and working in the US, Igor Sikorsky identified himself as an UKRAINIAN and was a member of Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Here is a story about Sikorsky told me by his family friend, Ukrainian American journalist and writer Valeriy Walter Ostapenko:

Mrs Sikorsky was also an Ukrainian, and she used to ware Vyshyvankas and hated waring evening gowns. Because of that Sikorskys avoided attending official ceremonies and all kinds of black tie events.

So, it’s a very bad habit to associate Igor Sikorsky with Russia and Russian identity.

December 24, 2023

* * *

Хтось повинен пояснити тому, хто написав цей текст, що Ігор Сікорський народився, виріс, здобув освіту і почав свій шлях в УКРАЇНІ.

Живучи і працюючи в США, Ігор Сікорський вважав себе УКРАЇНЦЕМ і був членом Української Православної Церкви. Ось історія про Сікорського, яку мені розповів друг його родини, українсько-американський журналіст і письменник Валерій Волтер Остапенко:

Пані Сікорська також була українкою, вона носила вишиванки і ненавиділа вечірні сукні. Через це Сікорські уникали офіційних церемоній і всіляких заходів «чорних краваток».

Тому асоціювати Ігоря Сікорського з Росією та російською ідентичністю – це дуже погана звичка.

24 грудня 2023 р.