Mondo Knows Facts
Igor Sikorsky designed the first practical single-rotor helicopter in 1939
The VS-300 featured a main rotor for lift and a tail rotor to counteract torque
Aviation pioneer Igor Sikorsky designed and flew the Sikorsky VS-300 in Stratford, Connecticut, in September 1939. His design resolved rotational torque using a small vertical tail rotor pushing sideways against main rotor torque. This single main rotor with tail rotor configuration became the standard mechanical setup for modern helicopters.
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Tags: aviation, helicopter, sikorsky
Igor Sikorsky designed the first practical single-rotor helicopter in 1939: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- The VS-300 featured a main rotor for lift and a tail rotor to counteract torque. The figure is taken from Sikorsky Archives, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
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- Yes. It sits on the Technology shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
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