S72016 VOUGHT-SIKORSKY VS-300

The Vought-Sikorksy VS-300 (or Sikorsky S-46) was an American-made experimental main rotor helicopter with side tail rotor that was first flown in 1939. The machine hull length was 8.53 m, with a height of 3.05 m and a main rotor diameter of 9.14 m. The drive was provided by a single Franklin 4AC engine with 90 HP. The maximum speed was up to 80 km / h, and the take-off weight of the helicopter was approx. 520 kg. The Vought-Sikorksy VS-300 was one of the first helicopters in the history of aviation to take to the air multiple times and the first to use a main rotor system with a side rotor placed on the tail boom. It was also the first helicopter in history capable of carrying an overhead load, and its structural layout actually became the standard for almost all later civilian and military helicopters! Undoubtedly, though inconspicuous, it was a breakthrough in the evolution of rotorcraft and aviation as such. It is also worth pointing out that its main constructor was an outstanding aviation constructor Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky - a Russian immigrant who settled in the USA at the age of 30. The only completed Vought-Sikorksy VS-300 is currently on display at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.