Igor Sikorsky

892 Book Reviews TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE Igor Sikorsky: The Russian Years. By K. N. Finne; edited by Carl J. Bobrow and Von Hardesty. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Insti­ tution Press, 1987. Pp. 223; illustrations, notes, appendixes, bibli­ ography, index. $22.50. Igor Sikorsky: The Russian Years is a very interesting book whose title, unfortunately, does not convey the full range of topics discussed. A selective translation of an earlier memoir-history by K. N. Finne published in Yugoslavia (Russkiye vozdushnyye bogatyri I. I. Sikorskogo, Belgrade, 1930), it is as much a memoir of tsarist military aviation and a history of the combat employment of Russian long-range bombers as it is a biography of Sikorsky. Editors Carl J. Bobrow and Von Hardesty have done an excellentjob in bringing it to fruition, and the book is considerably enhanced by excellent photographs, maps, drawings, explanatory notes, and a comprehensive bibliography. A section by Sikorsky’s son Sergei presents a brief and incisive look at Igor Sikorsky’s work in America after he fled the Bolshevik Revolu­ tion and replaces a similar (and now outdated) sketch that had appeared in Finne’s original book. Sikorsky is best known, of course, as a developer of helicopters that revolutionized military and civilian aviation. Fewer people are aware of his career as a developer of large American flying boats, and fewer still are aware that he pioneered the development of the large multiengine transport and bomber while working in Russia before and during the First World War. In 1913, Sikorsky flew a four-engine transport—the world’s first—and the following year made a number of widely publicized demonstration flights carrying up to sixteen passengers, including one from St. Petersburg to Kiev, a distance of almost 1,200 km, and back. Several months later, Russia was at war. Under the auspices of the so-called Russo-Baltic Wagon Company, Sikorsky embarked on construction of a whole family of these large four-engine biplanes, dubbed the Il'ya Muromets'), as long-range heavy bombers. When the evolution of the strategic bomber is discussed, what most often comes to mind are the operations of the German air service with its Gotha and “Giant” bombers on the Western Front, or the RAF with its Handley Pages of 1918. The work of Italy and Caproni and (especially) the Russians and Sikorsky is usually neglected. The Imperial Russian air service established a special “Czar’s Squadron of Flying Ships,” although, in reality, fully five squadrons of these large and imposing airplanes were in service. Initially, Sikorsky had to overcome the reluctance of Russian military aviators, who expressed a marked preference for single-engine machines. The robustness, performance, and combat effectiveness of these bombers gradually won over their skeptics, earning admiration as well from their German opponents. TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE Book Reviews 893 Finne, a flight surgeon attached to the Sikorsky force, wrote a fascinating account of early military aviation in Russia, focusing on the activities of the “Flying Ships,” and the editors have added considerably to its value. Igor Sikorsky: The Russian Years deserves a broader audience than its title is likely to attract, and its readers will learn much about a woefully neglected aspect of aviation history. Richard P. Hallion Dr. Hallion is an aerospace historian who has written widely on the technical development of aviation. Cierva Autogiros: The Development of Rotary-Wing Flight. By Peter W. Brooks. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1988. PP- 384; illustrations, tables, notes, glossary, appendixes, bibliogra­ phy, index. $35.00. Despite its importance in modern aviation, surprisingly few good historical works have appeared on either the helicopter or its cousin, the autogiro. Peter W. Brooks’s study goes a long way toward rectify­ ing that shortcoming of the literature. Focusing on the inventor of the autogiro, Juan de la Cierva, a Spanish aeronautical engineer, Brooks shows how the aircraft underwent development and improvement from the early 1920s through World War II. He details the intensive research in Spain, Britain, and the United States that eventually solved the technical problems of the autogiro and that led to com­ mercial and military applications for the aircraft. Significant innova­ tions included articulated rotor blades and

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