On Friday September 28, 2013, the site of the first successful helicopter in America was recognized as a Historic Aerospace Site. The recognition by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and supported by AHS International was at the Igor I. Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Between 1938 and 1943, the airport (then known as the Bridgeport Municipal Airport) and the adjacent Vought-Sikorsky aircraft plant were the site of the development of the first practical helicopters flown in the United States. There, Igor Sikorsky and his team pioneered the VS-300 helicopter, which made its first hovering flight on September 14, 1939. It was developed into the XR-4, which was also completed, flown and tested there; the first flight was on January 14, 1942. The XR-4 was the first helicopter accepted by the U.S. military and the first helicopter to be mass-produced anywhere. Read more ...
Press Release [PDF] - October 1, 2013
