| Augusto Ulderico Cicaré | |
| Birth Date: | 25 May 1937 |
| Birth Place: | Polvaredas, Argentina |
| Death Place: | Saladillo, Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Fields: | Engineering, aviation design |
| Known For: | CH-7 Helicopter |
| Awards: | Juan Manuel Fangio Prize |
Augusto Ulderico Cicaré (25 May 1937 – 26 January 2022) was an Argentine inventor, engineer, and aviation designer.[1]
At the age of 11, still in 5th grade, he built his first four stroke engine that he used to drive a washing machine. In this same period he converted the engine of a car to use propane gas instead of petrol.[2] By age 15 he was constructing motorcycle engines.[3]
In 1958, despite having never seen an actual helicopter before, and knowing little of helicopter design,[4] Cicaré's first successful helicopter design, the CH-1, flew for the first time, with its designer as the test pilot,[3] teaching himself how to fly in the process.[4] The CH-1 was the first helicopter to have been designed and built in South America. By 1972, Cicaré was developing his third helicopter.[5]
In the late 1960s, Cicaré designed a V-4 engine for use in DKW automobiles, the engine being extensively tested by driver Juan Manuel Fangio.[3] A version of the engine for use in motorsports competition was also developed, but the closure of DKW resulted in the termination of the project.[3]
Cicaré continued to be active in aviation design, with some of his later work including the Cicaré CH-10 and CH-11 ultralight helicopters, and the development of the Cicaré SVH-3 flight simulator, which was declared Argentina's national invention of the year in 1998.[3]
He died in Saladillo, Buenos Aires on 26 January 2022, at the age of 84.[6]
A 1987 design for a fuel injection pump for Diesel engines resulted in Cicaré being awarded the Juan Manuel Fangio Prize, the highest award for Argentine inventors.[3]
In 1970, Cicaré was declared to be one of the ten most outstanding young men of Argentina, and in 1996 he was named as a Friend of the Argentine Air Force.[3] Cicaré also received an honorary Air and Space Engineer degree in 1997 from the Professional Council of Air and Space Engineering.[3]
In 1999, a roundabout in Saladillo, Argentina was named in Cicaré's honour.[3]