Rachmaninoff’s Helicopter

The great composer Sergei Rachmaninoff came from a noble Russian family, and enjoyed an idyllic childhood on a family estate. Few people know his part in helping Russian aeronautical genius Igor Sikorsky, the inventor of the helicopter.

Though he left Russia in 1917 on an open sled with little more than a few manuscripts, Rachmaninoff became a very successful composer and pianist, commanding large fees which eventually landed him in Hollywood, where he lived and died in Beverly Hills.

Rachmaninoff’s generosity in the artistic community was legendary. He personally helped novelist Vladimir Nabokov resettle in the United States, and assisted the novelist Chekhov in getting work in Hollywood.

After music, Rachmaninoff loved fast cars, and collected a new car every year starting from this post World War I era. In Hollywood, he was famous for getting a speeding fine with his new toy car, and owned a famed collection.

One day in 1923 in Long Island, New York, young aeronautical genius Igor Sikorsky (the inventor of the helicopter) was working at his fledgling aircraft company when a huge chauffeur driven limousine screeched to a halt, and a tall figure in a long black coat stepped from the car.

The huge bear of a man inspected Sikorsky’s new plane, called the 29A, silently for almost half an hour.

The crowd recognized the mysterious stranger as the famed composer Rachmaninoff, and wondered why the international piano sensation would drive all that way to look at a plane!

Rachmaninoff, famous for his grave and grand manner, slowly pulled out a checkbook and wrote Sikorsky a check for $10,000, worth perhaps $100,000 today. He said only, “Pay me when you can!” With that, the great Rachmaninoff swept off in the Packard limo, leaving Igor Sikorsky dumbfounded but with sufficient funds to launch his company, which eventually perfected the modern helicopter.

Rachmaninoff became a member of the board of Sikorsky Aircraft, and his sponsorship helped the struggling company get off the ground.

The 29A, the airplane Rachnmaninoff inspected, became a success, whose maiden voyage delivered two concert grand pianos to the White House.

The poor 29A airplane (named for the year 1929 and simply America) met an ignominious fate when bought by famed billionaire Howard Hughes. Disguised as a German plane, it was shot down for footage in the Howard Hughes’ film “Hell’s Angels.”

Thus the tradition of legendary generosity on the part of successful pianists has another chapter in Rachmaninoff’s sponsorship of what eventually became the helicopter.

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