Where did the first helicopter take off, when and how high did it reach, and how long was it in the air?

Senior Moments

The first direct-lift, rotary wing vehicle to ever take off was the Vought-Sikorsky VS-300 on Sept. 14, 1939. Igor Sikorsky himself piloted the vehicle he had designed and built. It was a 28 ft, three-bladed single-rotor, with anti-torque tail rotor. The vehicle was powered by a 4-cylinder 75 hp engine. The helicopter also featured collective pitch control and landing gear. On his first flight Sikorsky was able to lift off 3 ft (1 metre) for about 10 seconds. Further improvements over the following years allowed the vehicle to log more that 100 hours of flight and break a staggering number of records, among which the longest flight, longest endurance, fancy manouevres and flight above ground. Sikorsky said a new era was coming: http://aerodyn.org/History/milestones.html Still looking for where this took place Nov 09 03, 9:44 AM

Senior Moments

Found one 22 years earlier. The first manned helicopter to rise vertically completely unrestrained was constructed by Paul Cornu, a French mechanic, in 1907. Cornu's helicopter had two propellers that were rotated at 90 rpm by a 24-hp (18 kW) engine. http://www.aerospaceweb.org/design/helicopter/history2.shtml Nov 09 03, 9:47 AM