The Long Blue Line (Summer 2020)

Profile:
SERGEI I.
SIKORSKY
AT THE AGE OF 95, SERGEI SIKORSKY
HAS AN AWE-INSPIRING LIFETIME OF
STORIES TO TELL. In fact, he remembers
visits to the Sikorsky home in Connecticut by the
Lindbergh family, Colonel Jimmie Doolittle, Roscoe
Turner, Eddie Rickenbacker, and many other
aviation icons. Later in life, during his service in the
Coast Guard, he recounts a Senate Armed Services
Committee demonstration on the Pawtuxent River
in Maryland at the Naval Test Center. I remember a
discussion with one of the Senators, named Harry
Truman. Eight months later, he would be President.
Equipped with the most famous name in
helicopters, Sergei Sikorsky forged his own path
in the aviation industry. All photos provided by
Sergei Sikorsky
Growing up, he witnessed fi rsthand the strides
made by his father, aviation pioneer Igor Sikorsky.
The company garnered fame for its Sikorsky flying
boats and "Clippers" for Pan American Airways
among numerous customers. Sergei’s fi rst fl ight
occurred when he was just eight years old, seated
on his father's lap in the copilot's seat of a Sikorsky
S-38 amphibian.
“We took off from Stratford, CT,” Sikorsky recalls,
“and we flew over Long Island Sound at an
altitude of 2,000 feet. Flying was an unforgettable
experience. I decided there and then I would do
that. In due time, I made that same flight as a pilot.”
By 1939, Igor Sikorsky was developing the
prototype VS-300 helicopter and once again his
son fl ew in the helicopter as a passenger, with his
father at the controls. Three years later, at age 17,
22 SUMMER 2020
THE LONG BLUE LINE