Sikorsky S-38

Last updated
S-38
Sikorsky S-38.jpg
A replica Sikorsky S-38 being positioned for display at AirVenture, Oshkosh in 2006.
Role Amphibious flying boat
National originUnited States
Manufacturer Sikorsky Aircraft
DesignerIgor Sikorsky
First flight25 May 1928
IntroductionOctober 1928
Primary users Pan American Airways
United States Army
New York, Rio, and Buenos Aires Line
Hawaiian Airlines
Number built101
Developed from Sikorsky S-34
Sikorsky S-36
Sikorsky PS-3, serving as a transport for the Eleventh Naval district. VJ-5 D11-4 (8285), photographed in March 1930 Sikorsky PS-3, 1930.jpg
Sikorsky PS-3, serving as a transport for the Eleventh Naval district. VJ-5 D11-4 (8285), photographed in March 1930

The Sikorsky S-38 was an American twin-engined ten-seat sesquiplane amphibious aircraft. It was Sikorsky's first widely produced amphibious flying boat, serving successfully for Pan American Airways and the United States military. [1]

Contents

Design and development

The S-38 was developed based upon experience with the Sikorsky S-34 and S-36. The S-38 first flew in May 1928. According to Sikorsky, "The ship had very good takeoff characteristics from land and water. It had a climb of 1,000 feet (300 m) per minute fully loaded, and a maximum speed close to 130 miles per hour (210 km/h). The ship could cruise nicely around 100 miles per hour (160 km/h), and it stayed in the air on one engine. All these features were excellent for 1928 and at that time there were no other amphibians with such performance characteristics. In 1929, an S-38 was used by Colonel Lindbergh to inaugurate air mail service between the United States and the Panama Canal." The United States Navy ordered two aircraft, and Pan Am was an early customer. [1]

A total of 101 aircraft were built, manufactured originally by the Sikorsky Manufacturing Corporation of Long Island, New York, and by the Sikorsky Aviation Corporation in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Sikorsky was acquired by United Aircraft and Transport Corporation in mid-production.

Variants

A C-6A Sikorsky C-6A.jpg
A C-6A
S-38A
11 Built
S-38B
Ten-place model, 80 Built
S-38C
12-place model, ten Built
C-6
United States Army Air Forces designation for the S-38A for evaluation, one aircraft later used as a VIP transport.
C-6A
United States Army Air Forces designation for a C-6 with minor changes, ten aircraft.
XPS-2
United States Navy designation for the S-38A, two aircraft later converted to XRS-2 transports.
PS-3
United States Navy designation for the S-38B, four aircraft later converted to RS-3 transports.
XRS-2
United States Navy designation for two XPS-2 converted as transports.
RS-3
United States Navy/Marine Corps designation for the S-38B transport version, three aircraft and conversions from PS-3.

Operators

Civil operators

Military operators

Private operators

Osa's Ark S-38 Malle Osa's Ark 01.JPG
Osa's Ark S-38

Some notable private owners include:

Reproductions

During the 1990s two reproduction S-38s were built by the late Buzz Kaplan's “Born Again Restorations,” of Owatonna, Minnesota. [12] One was produced for Samuel Curtis Johnson Jr., the son of Herbert Fisk Johnson, to recreate his father's flight, which he completed in 1998. As of August 2017 the plane is suspended from the ceiling of Fortaleza Hall in the S. C. Johnson & Son company headquarters in Racine, Wisconsin . [13] The other S-38 replica, N28V, appeared in the movie The Aviator (2004), a story loosely based on the life of Howard Hughes, who owned an S-38 during his lifetime. As of August 2017 it is owned by Kermit Weeks and located at the Fantasy of Flight Museum in Polk City, Florida, bearing the Osa's Ark paint scheme. [14] [15]

Accidents and incidents

Specifications (S-38-B)

Sikorsky S-38 3-view drawing from NACA Aircraft Circular No.79 Sikorsky S-38 3-view drawing NACA Aircraft Circular No.79.jpg
Sikorsky S-38 3-view drawing from NACA Aircraft Circular No.79

Data from Aerofiles : Sikorsky, [20] American flying boats and amphibious aircraft : an illustrated history [21]

General characteristics

Performance

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

Related lists

Related Research Articles

Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King American anti-submarine helicopter

The Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King is an American twin-engined anti-submarine warfare (ASW) helicopter designed and built by Sikorsky Aircraft. A landmark design, it was one of the first ASW rotorcraft to use turboshaft engines.

Curtiss NC-4

The NC-4 was a Curtiss NC flying boat that was the first aircraft to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, albeit not non-stop. The NC designation was derived from the collaborative efforts of the Navy (N) and Curtiss (C). The NC series flying boats were designed to meet wartime needs, and after the end of World War I they were sent overseas to validate the design concept.

Sikorsky S-40 Type of aircraft

The Sikorsky S-40 was an American amphibious flying boat built by Sikorsky in the early 1930s for Pan American Airways.

Sikorsky S-43 Type of aircraft

The Sikorsky S-43 was a 1930s American twin-engine amphibious flying boat monoplane produced by Sikorsky Aircraft.

Sikorsky S-39 Type of aircraft

The Sikorsky S-39 is an American light amphibious aircraft produced by Sikorsky Aircraft during the early 1930s. The S-39 was a smaller, single-engine version of the S-38.

Sikorsky VS-44 Type of aircraft

The Sikorsky VS-44 was a large four-engined flying boat built in the United States in the early 1940s by Sikorsky Aircraft. Based on the XPBS-1 patrol bomber, the VS-44 was designed primarily for the transatlantic passenger market, with a capacity of 40+ passengers. Three units were produced: Excalibur, Excambian, and Exeter, plus two XPBS-1 prototypes.

Curtiss Model F Type of aircraft

The Curtiss Models F made up a family of early flying boats developed in the United States in the years leading up to World War I. Widely produced, Model Fs saw service with the United States Navy under the designations C-2 through C-5, later reclassified to AB-2 through AB-5. Several examples were exported to Russia, and the type was built under license in Italy.

Curtiss Model H Type of aircraft

The Curtiss Model H was a family of classes of early long-range flying boats, the first two of which were developed directly on commission in the United States in response to the £10,000 prize challenge issued in 1913 by the London newspaper, the Daily Mail, for the first non-stop aerial crossing of the Atlantic. As the first aircraft having transatlantic range and cargo-carrying capacity, it became the grandfather development leading to early international commercial air travel, and by extension, to the modern world of commercial aviation. The last widely produced class, the Model H-12, was retrospectively designated Model 6 by Curtiss' company in the 1930s, and various classes have variants with suffixed letters indicating differences.

Curtiss Twin JN American observation aircraft

The Curtiss Twin JN was an Experimental aircraft built by the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company for the United States Army Air Service. It was a biplane, designed for observation missions.

Sikorsky S-36 Type of aircraft

The Sikorsky S-36 was an eight-seat amphibian sesquiplane designed and built by the Sikorsky Manufacturing Company in the late 1920s. The aircraft was ordered by Pan American Airways, the start of a long association with Sikorsky flying boats.

Loening Model 23 1920s American flying boat airliner

The Loening S-1 Flying Yacht, also called the Loening Model 23, was an early light monoplane flying boat designed in the United States by Grover Loening in the early 1920s. The aircraft won the 1921 Collier Trophy.

Sikorsky S-41 Type of aircraft

The Sikorsky S-41 was an amphibious flying boat airliner produced in the United States in the early 1930s. Essentially a scaled-up monoplane version of the Sikorsky S-38 biplane flying boat, Pan Am operated the type on routes in the Caribbean, South America, and between Boston and Halifax.

Curtiss Wanamaker Triplane Experimental four-engined triplane flying boat

The Wanamaker Triplane or Curtiss Model T, retroactively renamed Curtiss Model 3 was a large experimental four-engined triplane patrol flying boat of World War I. It was the first four-engined aircraft built in the United States. Only a single example (No.3073) was completed. At the time, the Triplane was the largest seaplane in the world.

Vought XSO2U American observation floatplane

The Vought XSO2U was an American observation floatplane developed by Vought-Sikorsky for the United States Navy during the late 1930s. Intended to replace the Curtiss SOC Seagull in service as a scout aboard cruisers, it proved superior to the Curtiss SO3C in evaluation, but failed to win a production contract due to Vought's lack of manufacturing capacity.

Curtiss Model K Type of aircraft

The Curtiss Model K, also known as the Model 4, was an American single-engined flying boat of World War I. It was an enlarged derivative of Curtiss's Model F and about 50 were built for export to the Imperial Russian Navy.

Aviation in Wisconsin

Aviation in Wisconsin refers to the aviation industry of the American Midwestern state of Wisconsin.

Curtiss-Wright CA-1 American biplane amphibian designed by Frank Courtney

The Curtiss CA-1 was an American five-seat biplane amphibian designed by Frank Courtney and built by Curtiss-Wright at St Louis, Missouri.

Sikorsky XP2S Type of aircraft

The Sikorsky XP2S was an American biplane patrol flying boat developed for the United States Navy during the early 1930s.

Loening XS2L Type of aircraft

The Loening XS2L was an American biplane scout amphibian developed by Keystone-Loening, for the United States Navy during the early 1930s.

References

  1. 1 2 Sikorsky, Igor (1952). The Story of the Winged-S. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company. pp. 167, 180–186.
  2. "Pemotretan Udara di Atas Papua". aviahistoria.com (in Indonesian). 5 August 2017. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  3. "Sikorsky to United"; Time Magazine, July 29, 1929
  4. "About Us | Hawaiian Airlines". www.hawaiianairlines.com. Retrieved 2022-07-27.
  5. Thiele, Ray (1994). Kennedy's Hawaiian Air. Olomana Publishers.
  6. 1 2 3 Skyways. Panorama Publications. January 1999. ISSN   1025-2657.{{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. "Western Air Express" . Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  8. SBHAC – Aviones de la Fuerza Aérea de la República Española
  9. "SC Johnson unveils new architectural showpiece". Chicago Tribune. Associated Press. 2010-01-24. ISSN   1085-6706 . Retrieved 2010-01-25.[ permanent dead link ]
  10. Kamin, Blair (2010-01-27). "Meeting Mr. Wright: Norman Foster's new Fortaleza Hall at S.C. Johnson & Son converses winningly with the old master". Chicago Tribune. ISSN   1085-6706. Archived from the original on 2010-02-02. Retrieved 2011-01-29. In 1935, Herbert F. Johnson, then the company's president, flew the original model of the S-38 from Racine to the Brazilian city of Fortaleza in search of a lasting source of wax from the carnauba palm tree.
  11. Burke, Michael (2008-05-12). "Johnson family's Spirit of Carnauba makes its final flight". The Journal Times. Racine, WI USA. Archived from the original on 2010-09-18. Retrieved 2012-06-16. Their trip re-created one that Fisk and Curt's grandfather, H.F. Johnson Jr., made in 1935. In that journey, he flew to Fortaleza in search of a sustainable source of the carnauba palm tree, then the indispensable ingredient in Johnson Wax.
  12. Peterson, Moose (January 29, 2012). "The Stunning S-38 Sikorsky Flying Amphibian". Warbird Images. Archived from the original on March 23, 2018. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  13. Carlsson, Cindy (August 2, 2017). "SC Johnson architecture tour, Racine, Wisconsin". Exploration Vacation. Retrieved 2018-03-22.
  14. "See World's Only Flying Sikorsky S-38 at AirVenture". 2012 AirVenture Oshkosh . Oshkosh, WI USA: EAA. Archived from the original on 2011-07-24.{{cite web}}: External link in |work= (help)
  15. Weeks, Kermit (Aug 18, 2017). Sikorsky S-38 Disassembly - FoF Mechanic's Corner (YouTube).
  16. New York Times: March 25, 1929, March 26, 1929, March 27, 1929, and March 28, 1929
  17. New York Times, Feb. 22, 1937
  18. Pereira, Aldo (1987). Breve História da Aviação Comercial Brasileira (in Portuguese). Rio de Janeiro: Europa. p. 337.
  19. Germano da Silva, Carlos Ari César (2008). "Uma verdadeira aventura". O rastro da bruxa: história da aviação comercial brasileira no século XX através dos seus acidentes 1928–1996 (in Portuguese) (2 ed.). Porto Alegre: EDIPUCRS. pp. 22–23. ISBN   978-85-7430-760-2.
  20. Eckland, K.O. "american airplanes: Sikorsky". aerofiles.com. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  21. Johnson, E.R. (2009). American flying boats and amphibious aircraft : an illustrated history. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co. pp. 72–74. ISBN   978-0786439744.
  22. Lednicer, David. "The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage". m-selig.ae.illinois.edu. Retrieved 16 April 2019.

Further reading