Sikorsky S-42
| Sikorsky S-42 | |
|---|---|
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| Role | Flying boat Airliner |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | Sikorsky |
| Designed by | Igor Sikorsky |
| First flight | 30 March 1934 |
| Introduced | 1934 |
| Status | None remaining |
| Primary user | Pan American Airways |
| Number built | 10 |
The Sikorsky S-42 was an 1930s American commercial flying boat designed and built by Sikorsky to meet a 1931 requirement from Pan American for a long-range transatlantic flying boat.
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Design and development
Based on the earlier Sikorsky S-40 that flew in 1931, Igor Sikorsky and Charles Lindbergh, working at the time as a Pan American Airways consultant, laid out plans for a new, larger flying boat. During the S-40's inaugural flight on 19 November 1931, the two visionaries began preliminary sketches on the back of a menu in the S-40's lounge.
Pan Am's president, Juan Trippe, had a similar vision of an aircraft able to span oceans. The new design provided for an increased lifting capacity to carry enough fuel for a 2,500 mile nonstop flight against a 30 mile-an-hour (48 km/h) wind, at a cruising speed far in excess of the average operating speed of any flying boat at that time. Pan Am was also courted by Glenn Martin but Sikorsky's S-42 was delivered first, as the Martin M-130 was still almost a year away from completion.
Operational history
Flying for Pan American Airways, a total of ten S-42s were built, manufactured by the Vought-Sikorsky Aircraft Division of the United Aircraft Corporation in Stratford, Connecticut. The aircraft first flew on 30 March 1934. The S-42 was also known as the Flying Clipper and the Pan Am Clipper. [1]
British Marine Aircraft Ltd. was formed in February 1936 to produce S-42-A flying boats under licence in the United Kingdom but nothing came of this. The company built a factory on the western side of the Hamble peninsula with a slipway to Southampton Water. When the deal fell through the company was sold to H.P. Folland, who renamed it Folland Aircraft Limited.[2]
All Sikorsky S-42s were either scrapped or destroyed in accidents.
Variants
- S-42
- Production aircraft with four 700hp (522kW) Pratt & Whitney Hornet S5D1G radial engines, three built.
- S-42A
- Production aircraft with four 750hp (559kW) Pratt & Whitney Hornet S1EG radial engines, longer wings and a 2000lb (907Kg) increase in maximum take-off weight, three built.
- S-42B
- Production aircraft with aerodynamic improvements, constant-speed Hamilton Standard propellers and a further 2000lb (907Kg) increase in maximum take-off weight, four built.
Specifications (S-42-A)
Data from[citation needed]
General characteristics
- Crew: 4
- Capacity: up to 37 day passengers or 14 sleeper berths
- Length: 68 ft (20.73 m)
- Wingspan: 118 ft 2 in (36.03 m)
- Height: 17 ft 5 in (5.3 m)
- Wing area: 1,329 ft² (123.5 m²)
- Empty weight: 19,764 lb (8,984 kg)
- Loaded weight: 38,000 lb (17,273 kg)
- Powerplant: 4× Pratt & Whitney R-1690 Hornet, supercharged radial engine, 660 hp (492 kW) each
Performance
- Maximum speed: 188 mph (300 km/h)
- Range: 1,930 miles (3,088 km)
- Service ceiling 15,704 ft (4,788 m)
- Rate of climb: 1,000 ft/min (305 m/min)
- Wing loading: 28.6 lb/ft² (140 kg/m²)
- Power/mass: 0.07 hp/lb (0.11 kW/kg)
See also
Related development
Comparable aircraft
References
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Fagan, Dave. 'Hamble' Aviation in Hampshire UK 1900 to 2000 Retrieved: 20 May 2005.
- Yenne, Bill. Seaplanes & Flying Boats: A Timeless Collection from Aviation's Golden Age. New York: BCL Press, 2003. ISBN 1-932302-03-4.
External links
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