Frank Piąsecki was born in Philadelphia in 1919, the son of an immigrant Polish tailor. He earned degrees in aeronautical and mechanical engineering by the age of 20 and in 1940, he gained the support of a few friends and started a small aeronautical company. He built a single-person, single-rotor helicopter designated the PV-2 and test-flew it by 1943. After the war, Piąsecki received a contract to build several military prototypes and the highly successful H-21, which entered service in the 1950s.

In 1986, President of the United States Ronald Reagan awarded Mr. Piąsecki the country's highest technical honor, the National Medal of Technology.

Additionally, in 2005 Frank Piąsecki received the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Lifetime Achievement award.

See also: Piasecki Helicopter, Piasecki Aircraft Corporation

Polish-Americans | American engineers

Frank Piasecki