In these talks, we have often stressed the value of patience in developing new things because, as a rule, it takes a long time for an idea to grow up. Today, we have an outstanding example of this from the career of a young Russian who over 40 years ago started experiments in aviation which are just now coming into use.

     Fifty-five years ago, Igor Sikorsky was born in Kiev, in Southern Russia. Igor grew up in a scientific atmosphere - his father was a professor of psychology and his mother was educated in medicine. His mother greatly admired Leonardo da Vinci and often told her son of the many accomplishments of the great artist, but da Vinci's flying machine designs made an indelible impression on the boy's mind, even though they were made 400 years before.

     With this background, it was only natural that in 1908, when he read about the Wright brothers, he resolved to make flying his career, so he began to collect all the information he could find on the subject. He remembered da Vinci's helicopter sketch, and this may have influenced him to work on a machine that would rise vertically.