Vought Sikorsky VS-300

The model

This is my VS-300 from the ExtraTech Kit. ExtraTech is well known for aftermarket products, but also some great kits are available from this manufacturer. This kit is a tiny “treasure”. Not a single part of plastic in the box - only resin and photo-etched parts came along with a small building plan and 2 decals.

The original

It was September, 14th in 1939, when a rather uncommon vehicle tied down with cables to the ground had his “first flight”. The VS-300 was a design from the Russian emigrant Mr. Igor Sikorsky and it is considered to be the first US helicopter of practical utility. Since the first flight the VS-300 was constantly modified. Started with a simple steel tube fuselage and tail boom the vehicle turned into an at least common looking helicopter:  covered fuselage, uncovered tail boom, wheel undercarriage, and a 75 horse power engine. The VS-300 was also available with floats and a 90 Hp engine. The real free (no cables) first flight took place in May 1940. In his final version the helicopter had more than 102 flight-hours of extensive testing and experiments.  The positive outcome of the testing showed all the advantages of a helicopter with tail boom and tail rotor and finally led to the general implementation of this configuration in modern helicopter design. With end of proving phase the VS-300 was donated to the Henry Ford museum in Dearborn, Michigan, USA. This was in October 1943 and the VS-300 is still displayed in that museum. Based on his experiments Mr. Sikorsky started the development of VS-316, better known as R-4 Hoverfly, which became the first US series-production helicopter.