Seven Came Through: Rickenbacker’s Full Story

Description

Inscribed to the son of Igor Sikorsky, Nickolai Sikorsky, Seven Came Through: Rickenbacker’s Full Story, by Capt. Edward V. Rickenbacker.

Octavo, x, 118pp. Blue hardcover, title in silver on spine, airplane on front cover. This copy is dated 1943, but a later reprint, lacking the “first edition” statement on copyright page. In the publisher’s near fine, price-clipped dust jacket. Inscribed on the front free endpaper: “To my young friend ‘Nickolai Sikorsky.’ Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker. 1942/1966.” Provenance: From the estate of Susana and Nickolai Sikorsky, the son and daughter-in-law of Igor Sikorsky. Estate sale in West Hartford, CT, May 2021.

Igor Sikorsky (1889-1972) was a Russian-American aviation pioneer, best known for the development of the first viable helicopter. Early in his career in Russia, Sikorsky was successful in designing fixed-wing aircraft. Moving to the United States in 1919, he eventually founded the Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation. In the 1930s, the Sikorsky Corporation developed the first flying boats for Pan American Airways to allow for ocean-crossing flights. His most notable achievement came in 1939 with the development of the Vought-Sikorsky VS-300, the first viable helicopter.