Sikorsky's Marc Poland

Igor Sikorsky didn’t invent the helicopter, but he did come up with the design and rotor configuration on which all subsequent helicopters were based. So, for Marc Poland, vice-president of the company that bears Igor’s name, and man in charge of its commercial helicopters business, looking out onto a helicopter technology exhibition is almost like overseeing a family legacy.

‘That’s a fair characterisation,’ he said, in a conference room off the bustling exhibition floor at the recent Helitech event. ‘But we’ve pushed the boundaries of size on from Igor Sikorsky’s very first helicopter, which was a very small, single-seat aircraft, and through our history have made bigger and bigger aircraft. We’re now the biggest providers of what you might call government helicopters, for military missions and for offshore oil industry personnel transport, and search and rescue.’ Among Sikorsky’s helicopters are the workhorse S-92, which can carry 22 passengers; the smaller S-70, the basis of the military Black Hawk; and the enormous, heavy-lift S-80 Super Stallion, whose newest model will be able to lift 27,000lb.