Ján Bahýľ (25 May 1845, Zvolenská Slatina , Slovakia - 13 March 1916, Bratislava) was a Slovak inventor mainly of flying machines. He is the inventor of the modern helicopter.

Early life

In 1869, Bahýľ graduated from the famous Mining Academy of Banská Štiavnica with a diploma in technical drawing.

During his one year term in the army, his superiors noticed him, because he made some technical improvements for the army of the Hungarian. Thus, he has been enrolled into the technical staff. Besides being entrusted with complex building tasks while in the army, Bahyl was able to study at the Vienna Military Academy. He graduated from the academy in 1879 and was made a lieutenant.

During his time in the army Bahyl was able to work on a number of inventions, many of which involved hydraulics.

Inventions

Steam tank, tank pump, air balloons

His first invention, which was actually financed from his own money, was called the Steam Tank. The Steam Tank was bought by the Russian army.

Bahyl was granted seventeen patents in all, including the invention of the tank pump , air balloons combined with an air turbine, the first petrol engine car in Slovakia (along with Anton Marschall ) and a lift inside the castle hill up to the Bratislava Castle.

In 1894, he designed flying balloons combined with an air turbine.

Helicopter

The emperor Franz Joseph granted him a patent numbered 3392 on 13 August 1895. He constructed an improved helicopter in 1901 that ascended to a height of 0.5 meters. In 1903 he reached 1.5 meters and on 5 May 1905 he flew up using his petrol-engine helicopter to a height of four meters for over 1500 meters. His attempt was also recorded by the International Airship Organisation .