Sikorsky S-8

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S-8
Sikorsky S-8 aircraft circa 1912.jpg
Sikorsky S-8 near Petrograd in 1912
RoleTrainer
National origin Russian Empire
Manufacturer Russian Baltic Railroad Car Works
DesignerIgor Sikorsky
First flight17 September 1912
Number built1

The Sikorsky S-8Malyutka (baby) was a small Russian single engine aircraft built by the Russian Baltic Railroad Car Works shortly after Igor Sikorsky became chief engineer of the aircraft manufacturing division in 1912.

Russo-Balt machine-building enterprise of the Russian Empire

Russo-Balt was one of the first Russian companies that produced vehicles and aircraft between 1909 and 1923.

Igor Sikorsky Russian and American aerospace designer

Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky, was a Russian-American aviation pioneer in both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. His first success came with the S-2, the second aircraft of his design and construction. His fifth airplane, the S-5, won him national recognition as well as F.A.I. license number 64. His S-6-A received the highest award at the 1912 Moscow Aviation Exhibition, and in the fall of that year the aircraft won for its young designer, builder and pilot first prize in the military competition at Saint Petersburg.

Contents

Design and development

The S-8 was a two bay biplane trainer powered by a 50 hp (37 kW) Gnome air-cooled rotary engine with the main wings and landing gear of similar design to the S-6-A. Completed early in the summer of 1912, the aircraft featured a side by side seating arrangement with controls that could be moved between the instructor and student. For improved downward visibility the lower wing had no fabric covering between the wing root and first rib. [1] [2] [3]

Biplane airplane wing configuration with two vertically stacked main flying surfaces

A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While a biplane wing structure has a structural advantage over a monoplane, it produces more drag than a similar unbraced or cantilever monoplane wing. Improved structural techniques, better materials and the quest for greater speed made the biplane configuration obsolete for most purposes by the late 1930s.

Gnome et Rhône was a major French aircraft engine manufacturer. Between 1914 and 1918 they produced 25,000 of their 9-cylinder Delta and Le Rhône 110 hp (81 kW) rotary designs, while another 75,000 were produced by various licensees. These engines powered the majority of aircraft in the first half of the war, both Allied designs as well as German examples produced by Motorenfabrik Oberursel.

Rotary engine internal combustion engine with cylinders rotating around a stationary crankshaft

The rotary engine is an early type of internal combustion engine, usually designed with an odd number of cylinders per row in a radial configuration, in which the crankshaft remained stationary in operation, with the entire crankcase and its attached cylinders rotating around it as a unit. Its main application was in aviation, although it also saw use before its primary aviation role, in a few early motorcycles and automobiles.

Operational history

On the evening of 17 September 1912, Sikorsky piloted the S-8 on a ninety minute night flight from the Korpusnoi Aerodrome near Saint Petersburg. He landed with help of fires set at the airfield. [2]

Saint Petersburg Federal city in Northwestern, Russia

Saint Petersburg is Russia's second-largest city after Moscow, with 5 million inhabitants in 2012, part of the Saint Petersburg agglomeration with a population of 6.2 million (2015). An important Russian port on the Baltic Sea, it has a status of a federal subject.

Specifications

Data fromRussian Aviation Museum [3]

General characteristics

Gnome Omega

The Gnome 7 Omega is a French seven-cylinder, air-cooled aero engine produced by Gnome et Rhône. It was shown at the Paris Aero Salon held in December 1908 and was first flown in 1909. It was the world's first aviation rotary engine produced in quantity. Its introduction revolutionized the aviation industry and it was used by many early aircraft. It produced 50 horsepower (37 kW) from its capacity of 8 litres. A Gnome Omega engine powers the 1912 Blackburn Monoplane, owned and operated by the Shuttleworth Collection, the oldest known airworthy British-designed aeroplane worldwide. A two-row version of the same engine was also produced, known as the Gnome 14 Omega-Omega or Gnome 100 hp. The prototype Omega engine still exists, and is on display at the United States' National Air and Space Museum.

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 50 mph; 43 kn (80 km/h) [2]

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References

  1. Sikorsky, Igor (1944). The Story of the Winged-S. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company. p. 43. ISBN   9781258163556.
  2. 1 2 3 "Sikorsky S-8 1911". www.aviastar.org. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
  3. 1 2 "S-8". ram-home.com. 4 September 1997. Retrieved 2 April 2017.