Energy & Industry / Transport & Mobility

Helicopter

Focke-Wulf's Fw 61 (1936) is the first controllable helicopter, and Sikorsky's R-4 (1942) the first built in numbers.

Rotor aircraft can take off, hover and land anywhere, but need complex control of rotor blades. Sikorsky's single-rotor layout with tail rotor became the standard, used for rescue, transport and, later, as a model for electric air taxis.