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]
Design and development
[
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]
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
[
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]
- 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
[
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]
Civil operators
[
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]
Military operators
[
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]
Private operators
[
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]
Some notable private owners include:
Reproductions
[
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]
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
[update]
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
[update]
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
[
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]
- A
SCADTA
(actually
Avianca
, never was a
Pan Am
subsidiary) S-38,
NC9107
, crashed in the Colombian jungle near Pereira, killing all but one on board; the survivor was carried for seven days through the jungle to civilization.
[
citation needed
]
- T. Raymond Finucane, a wealthy
Rochester, NY
businessman, and three others disappeared over the sea aboard a Sikorsky Amphibian after departing
Norfolk, Virginia
for
New York City
March 22, 1929. In
Miami, Florida
, Finucane had wagered a friend who was traveling ahead by train that he (Finucane) would reach New York first. He chartered Curtiss Flying Service to fly him to New York from Miami. Also on board the missing aircraft were Frank Ables and J. Boyd, Curtiss mechanics, along with Harry Smith, the pilot. A massive search by Curtiss planes, American military planes, coast guard cutters, and even the airship
Los Angeles
failed to turn up anything. Mrs. Finucane, founding president of the
Rochester Community Players
, visited the Curtiss operation at
Roosevelt Field
, the destination of the flight, for updates.
[16]
Wreckage presumed to be from this plane was found eight years later by a fishing schooner.
[17]
- On September 25, 1932, a
Panair do Brasil
Sikorsky S-38 registration P-BDAD still bearing the titles of
Nyrba do Brasil
was seized in the company's hangar by three men, who took a fourth man hostage. None were aviators but they managed to take off. However the aircraft crashed in
Sao Joao de Meriti
, killing the four men. Apparently the hijack was related to the events of the
Constitutionalist Revolution
in Sao Paulo and it is considered to be the first hijack that took place in Brazil.
[18]
[19]
Specifications (S-38-B)
[
edit
]
Data from
Aerofiles : Sikorsky,
[20]
American flying boats and amphibious aircraft : an illustrated history
[21]
General characteristics
- Crew:
2
- Capacity:
8 - 10 pax / 4,480 lb (2,030 kg) payload
- Length:
40 ft 5 in (12.32 m)
- Upper wingspan:
71 ft 8 in (21.84 m)
- Lower wingspan:
36 ft 0 in (10.97 m)
- Height:
13 ft 10 in (4.22 m)
- Wing area:
720 sq ft (67 m
2
)
- Airfoil
:
Sikorsky GS-1
[22]
- Empty weight:
6,548 lb (2,970 kg)
- Gross weight:
10,479 lb (4,753 kg)
- Powerplant:
2 ×
Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp
9-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine, 420 hp (310 kW) each
- Propellers:
2-bladed ground-adjustable metal propellers
Performance
- Maximum speed:
124 mph (200 km/h, 108 kn)
- Cruise speed:
109 mph (175 km/h, 95 kn)
- Stall speed:
57 mph (92 km/h, 50 kn)
- Range:
600 mi (970 km, 520 nmi)
- Service ceiling:
18,000 ft (5,500 m)
- Rate of climb:
750 ft/min (3.8 m/s)
- Wing loading:
14.5 lb/sq ft (71 kg/m
2
)
- Power/mass
:
0.0813 hp/lb (0.1337 kW/kg)
See also
[
edit
]
- Sikorsky RS
, a designation used by the United States Navy for a number of different Sikorsky twin-engined amphibious flying boats
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
Related lists
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Sikorsky, Igor (1952).
The Story of the Winged-S
. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company. pp. 167, 180?186.
- ^
"Pemotretan Udara di Atas Papua"
.
aviahistoria.com
(in Indonesian). 5 August 2017
. Retrieved
1 April
2021
.
- ^
"Sikorsky to United"; Time Magazine, July 29, 1929
- ^
"About Us | Hawaiian Airlines"
.
www.hawaiianairlines.com
. Retrieved
2022-07-27
.
- ^
Thiele, Ray (1994).
Kennedy's Hawaiian Air
. Olomana Publishers.
- ^
a
b
c
Skyways
. Panorama Publications. January 1999.
ISSN
1025-2657
.
- ^
"Western Air Express"
. Retrieved
6 May
2022
.
- ^
SBHAC ? Aviones de la Fuerza Aerea de la Republica Espanola
- ^
"SC Johnson unveils new architectural showpiece"
.
Chicago Tribune
. Associated Press. 2010-01-24.
ISSN
1085-6706
. Retrieved
2010-01-25
.
[
permanent dead link
]
- ^
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.
- ^
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.
- ^
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
.
- ^
Carlsson, Cindy (August 2, 2017).
"SC Johnson architecture tour, Racine, Wisconsin"
.
Exploration Vacation
. Retrieved
2018-03-22
.
- ^
"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.
- ^
Weeks, Kermit (Aug 18, 2017).
Sikorsky S-38 Disassembly - FoF Mechanic's Corner
(YouTube).
- ^
New York Times: March 25, 1929, March 26, 1929, March 27, 1929, and March 28, 1929
- ^
New York Times, Feb. 22, 1937
- ^
Pereira, Aldo (1987).
Breve Historia da Aviacao Comercial Brasileira
(in Portuguese). Rio de Janeiro: Europa. p. 337.
- ^
Germano da Silva, Carlos Ari Cesar (2008). "Uma verdadeira aventura".
O rastro da bruxa: historia da aviacao comercial brasileira no seculo XX atraves dos seus acidentes 1928?1996
(in Portuguese) (2 ed.). Porto Alegre: EDIPUCRS. pp. 22?23.
ISBN
978-85-7430-760-2
.
- ^
Eckland, K.O.
"american airplanes: Sikorsky"
.
aerofiles.com
. Retrieved
18 April
2019
.
- ^
Johnson, E.R. (2009).
American flying boats and amphibious aircraft : an illustrated history
. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co. pp. 72?74.
ISBN
978-0786439744
.
- ^
Lednicer, David.
"The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage"
.
m-selig.ae.illinois.edu
. Retrieved
16 April
2019
.
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Davies, R.E.G. (1987).
Pan Am: An Airline and its Aircraft
. New York, NY USA: Orion Books.
ISBN
0-517-56639-7
.
- Yenne, Bill (2003).
Seaplanes & Flying Boats: A Timeless Collection from Aviation's Golden Age
. New York, NY USA: BCL Press.
ISBN
1-932302-03-4
.
- Grey, C.G., ed. (1934).
Jane's all the World's Aircraft 1934
. London: Sampson Low, Marston & company, ltd. p. 310c.
External links
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]
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