How it began
Ján Bahýľ was born in 1856 in Zvolenská Slatina and died in 1916 in Bratislava. He trained as a draftsman at the state school in Banská Štiavnica, graduated from the military academy in Vienna, and served as a construction engineer in the Austro-Hungarian army. From 1892 he conducted tests with a helicopter prototype of his own construction. His helicopter design was patented on August 13, 1895.
How it works
The patented machine of 1895 was 6.5 meters long and weighed 50 kg. It was first human-powered and hovered 50 cm above the ground. Later versions used a petrol engine. Slovakia's postal authority lists a petrol-engined helicopter among his 17 inventions.
What changed first
The Slovak postal record states that Bahýľ's helicopter reached a height of 1.5 meters in 1903 and four meters some years later, and that it was registered by the International Aviation Organisation on June 15, 1905. Wikipedia reports a flight on May 5, 1905 that reached about 4 meters and covered about 1,500 meters. The sources differ on the dates and figures.
What lasted
Bahýľ held 17 patents, including one for a lift to Bratislava Castle. Slovakia honored him with a postage stamp in 1995. He is remembered in Slovakia as an inventor who worked on flying machines before powered helicopters became practical. His other inventions included an air-turbine balloon.
