Magyar News, 1993. szeptember-1994. augusztus (4. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1993-10-01 / 2. szám
Magyar News Monthly Publication in Cooperation of the local Hungarian Churches & Organization MAGYARS CONQUER THE SKIES This is a special edition in connection with the tribute to Oszkár Asbóth at the National Helicopter Museum in Stratford, Connecticut. YESTERDAY: OSZKÁR ASBÓTH - TODAY: IGOR SIKORSKY We Hungarians don’t have to be so cautious. We may say without regret that a Hungarian invented the helicopter. Eleven years before Sikorsky’s helicopter, on September 9, 1928, a Hungarian helicopter lifted up vertically without any other assistance and hovered 150 feet above ground and landed the same way it took off. It was the first real flight of a helicopter. The inventor was Oszkár Asboth, a mechanical engineer bom in Pankota in 1891 who studied in the city of Arad. After his studies, Asboth was engaged in airplane construction and during the first World War at the (continued on page 3) One takes on a difficult task talking about the helicopter in “helicopter country” or may I say Sikorsky country. Most of the people you ask would tell you that the chopper was invented by Igor Sikorsky and was made in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The official statements are a bit more cautious. They say that Sikorsky, as the engineering manager of United Aircraft Coiporation, developed in 1939 the first American helicopter capable of sustained flight and satisfactory control. Now this doesn’t say anything about inventing the helicopter or being the first inventor. Oszkár Asboth, 1891-1960 The third variation of the Asboth helicopter takes off in 1929. The picture shows the tubular structure, the two propellers, the pilot in one end and the engine in the other. It shows the flaps that are used partially to help stabilize the helicopter, and to maneuver it. Four soccer balls on the bottom cushioned the landing.
