Country of origin:

United States of America

Description:

Amphibious commercial airliner

Power Plant:

(S-38B)

Two 336 kw (450 hp) Pratt & Whitney Wasp C1 seven-cylinder air-cooled radial engines

Specifications:

History:

Designed by Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky, the renowned former Russian aircraft engineer, the S-38 was a development of the S-36, which was Sikorsky’s first amphibian, and which seated eleven.  The Type Certificate was issued in August 1928 and production took place at the Company’s facility at College Point, Long Island, New York.  The first of the S-38 series appeared in 1928, it being a twin-engined sesquiplane amphibian with twin fins and rudders carried on two tail booms, powered by Pratt & Whitney Wasp engines.  The hull framework was built of oak with ash wooden frame members reinforced with dural plates and gussets at the joints.  Outer covering was of heavy gauge duralumin alclad metal sheet.  The wing framework was built up of riveted and bolted duralumin girder type spar beams and riveted duralumin truss type wing ribs, and fabric covered.

The S-38 was described as the plane which actually completed the peaceful conquest of nearly all of South America; and carried passengers and freight over South America, the West Indies, Australia, New Guinea, Sweden, China, the United States and many other countries. Produced in three basic versions, the S-38A had a crew of two and nine passengers with 313 kw (420 hp) Pratt & Whitney Wasp C1 engines; the S-38B had 336 kw (450 hp) Wasp C1 or SC1 engines; and the S-38C had the 313 kw (420 hp) Wasp C1 engines and carried two extra passengers but had a smaller fuel capacity. The S-38C2 had 421 kw (565 hp) Pratt & Whitney Hornet engines, and the S-38BT had 392 kw (525 hp) Pratt & Whitney T1D1 engines.

Sikorsky produced 11 examples of the S-38A, the prototype (NC5933 – c/n 14A) being supplied to New York, Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires airlines. It was followed by ten S-38As (c/ns 14-1 to 14-10).  These were followed by the S-38B (c/ns 114-11 to 114-20). The first ten S-38Bs and the S-38As differed from later production aircraft in having a vertical windshield.  Further S-38Bs were built in batches of 20 (c/ns 214-1 to 214-20; 314-1 to 314-20; 414-1 to 414-20 and 514-1 to 514-10), nine of the latter batch of ten being supplied to the US Army.  Charles Lindberg flew one from Miami, Florida to Panama in 1929.

A total of 101 examples of the series was built and one example, the 45th completed, was registered in Australia.  This aircraft (ex-NC142M – c/n 214-13) was built for Pan American Airways in 1929.  It was used by Charles Lindberg on the first air-mail flight from Florida to the Canal Zone via Cuba and Nicaragua.  In 1936 it was obtained by the Shell Aviation Corp and on 12 March 1937 it was registered VH-UZE to an affiliated company, Papua Oil Development Company Ltd of Port Moresby, PNG.  It was shipped to, and assembled, in Brisbane, QLD.  It was then flown to Sydney, NSW where radio equipment was installed but this reduced the payload from 122 kg (270 lb) to 14 kg (52 lb).  In order to increase its load carrying capacity in the hot climate of New Guinea, the undercarriage was removed, saving 220 kg (484 lb).  On 27 December 1937, it left Daru and flew to a drilling camp at Kikori at the mouth of the Kikori River.  Whilst landing on the Kikori River, it hit an object in the water (thought to be a crocodile) and was extensively damaged.  Attempts were made to save the aircraft. Fuel was dumped, oil drums were placed under the wings, and the aircraft was beached.  However, due to its location it could not be recovered and was stripped.

A number of other S-38s are known to have operated in this region.  In 1936 an S-38B (NC-6V – c/n 314-12) was operated by the Netherlands New Guinea Petroleum Co as PK-AKT.  This machine was operated by the Cleveland Co and was used by S C Johnson and Co to fly to Brazil to study the Carnauba Palm tree, this tree providing wax for the Company’s products.  It was later used on an expedition to Africa as noted below.  It crashed whilst taking off from a bay in Western New Guinea.

A second S-38B (NC23V – c/ n 414-14) joined this company as PK-AKS and, with three DH.89 Dragon Rapides and four Grumman Goose (PK-AER, PK-AES, PK-AKA and PK-AKB), was operated over Dutch and Australian New Guinea on photo survey work.  This work commenced in 1936, operating from bases at Mimika, Seroei, Baba and Epan.  They were in fact owned by KNILM.  It would seem PK-AKS was at Buitenzorg in Java in February 1942 when it was destroyed during the Japanese invasion.

In the late 1990s a replica S-38 (NC6V – Carnauba) was built in the USA by Born Again Restorations for the Johnson Wax Company and fitted with Pratt & Whitney Wasp Junior radial engines. It was used in 1998 to perform a re-enactment of a similar flight made by an S-38 (NC29V – c/n 414-20 – Osa’s Ark) owned by the same company in 1935 from Racine in Wisconsin to Fortaleza in Brazil.  The replica NC6V was later placed on display at the US Experimental Aircraft Association Museum at Oshkosh in Wisconsin.  A further replica has been built for the Johnson Co to replicate the 1933 expedition by the company’s other S-38 (NC29V – c/n 414-20 – Osa’s Ark), which, along with an S-39 (Spirit of Africa), in 1932 was painted in Zebra stripes and flown throughout Africa, covering 96,558 km (60,000 miles).