Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky, 1914. Sikorsky is wearing the cross of the Imperial Order of St. Vladimir. (Karl Karlovich Bulla)
25 May 1889: Ігор Іванович Сікорський (Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky) was born at Kiev, Ukraine, Russian Empire, the fifth of five children of Professor Ivan Alexeevich Sikorsky and Doctor Mariya Stefanovich Sikorskaya.
15 year-old Midshipman Igor Ivanovich Sikorksky, Imperial Naval Academy, at lower right, with his sisters Olga, Lydia and Elena, and brother Sergei, 1904. (Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin Company)
He studied at the Imperial Naval Academy, St. Petersburg, from 1903 until 1906, when he left to study engineering, first in Paris, and then at the Kiev Polytechnic Institute.
Pilot Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky with a passenger, circa 1914. (RIA Novosti)
Flying an airplane of his own design, the S-5, on 18 April 1911, he received a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale pilot’s license from L’Aéro-Club Imperial de Russie (Imperial Russian Aero Club).
Igor I. Sikorsky’s FAI pilot’s license. (Sikorsky Historical Archives)
He was chief aircraft engineer for Russko-Baltiisky Vagonny Zavod at St. Petersburg and continued to develop airplanes. In 1913, he flew the twin engine S-21 Le Grand, to which he added two more engines, and it became the Russky Vityaz.
Igor Sikorsky with one of his early biplanes.Sikorsky’s S-21 in flight, 1913
Igor Sikorsky married Olga Fyodorovna Simkovich. They had a daughter, Tania. The couple soon divorced, however.
Compagnie Générale Transatlantique liner, S.S. La Lorraine, 11,146 gross tons.
Following the October Revolution, Sikorsky emigrated to the United States. Departing Le Havre, France, aboard S.S. La Lorraine, he arrived at New York on 31 March 1919. With financial backing from composer and conductor Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff, he founded the Sikorsky Aero Engineering Company at Long Island, New York, in 1924, and continued designing and building airplanes.
In 1924, Sikorsky married Elisabeth Semion, who was also born in Russia, in 1903. They would have four children. In 1928, he became a citizen of the United States of America.
Sikorsky S-39 amphibian NC54V (Civil Air Patrol)
Beginning in 1934, Sikorsky Aircraft produced the S-42 flying boat for Pan American Airways at a new plant at Stratford, Connecticut.
U.S. Navy RS-1 (Sikorsky S-41) (National Museum of Naval Aviation)Pan American Airways Sikorsky S-42, NC16734, moored at Honolulu, Territory of the Hawaiian Islands. (hawaii.gov/hawaiiaviation)
Interested in helicopters since the age of 9, he directed his creative effort toward the development of a practical “direct-lift” aircraft. The first successful design was the Vought-Sikorsky VS-300. Using a single main rotor, the VS-300 went through a series of configurations before arriving at the single anti-torque tail rotor design, the VS-316A. This was put into production for the U.S. military as the Sikorsky R-4.
The prototype VS-300 helicopter clears the ground for the first time, 14 September 1939. Igor Sikorsky is at the controls. His right foot rests on the anti-torque pedal. (Sikorsky Historical Archives)Igor Sikorsky hovers the Vought-Sikorsky VS-300A. (Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin Company)On behalf of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, the National Aeronautic Association of the United States issued Helicopter Pilot Certificate No. 1 to Igor I. Sikorsky, 10 December 1940. (Sikorsky Historical Archives)Igor Sikorsky in the cockpit of a Sikorsky S-48 (R-5) helicopter. (Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin Company)
The company which Igor Sikorsky founded has continued as one of the world’s biggest helicopter manufacturers. Recently acquired by Lockheed Martin, Sikorsky continues to produce the UH-60-series of Blackhawk medium helicopters, the large CH-53K King Stallion, and the civil S-76D and S-92. A variant of the S-92 has been selected as the next helicopter for the U.S. presidential air fleet, the VH-92A. This helicopter is planned to be operational by 2020.
Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky died at Easton, Connecticut, 26 October 1972 at the age of 83 years.
Igor Sikorsky piloting his pontoon-equipped VS-300, 17 April 1941. (Sikorsky Historical Archives)Les Morris at the controls of the Vought-Sikorsky XR-4, 41-18874 (VS-316A), on its first flight at Stratford, Connecticut, 14 January 1942. (Sikorsky Historical Archives)Lt. Carter Harman hovering in ground effect with Sikorsky YR-4B Hoverfly 43-28247 at Lalaghat, India, March 1944. This is the helicopter with which he made the first combat rescue, 21-25 April 1944. (U.S. Air Force)U.S. Army R-5 (Sikorsky S-48) flown by Jimmy Viner with Captain Jack Beighle, lifts a crewman from Texaco Barge No. 397, aground on Penfield Reef, 29 November 1945. (Sikorsky Historical Archive)U.S. Air Force H-5 (Sikorsky S-51) lifts off during the Korean War. (U.S. Air Force)U.S. Coast Guard HOS-1 (Sikorsky S-49), with Igor Sikorsky as a passenger, over the Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, 17 December 1947—the 44th annivesary of the Wright Brothers first controlled, powered airplane flight. (Sikorsky Historical Archives)U.S. Army YH-18A 49-2889 (Sikorsky S-52-2) (Ed Coates Collection)U.S. Air Force SH-19A Chickasaw 51-3850 (Sikorsky S-55), Air Rescue Service. (U.S. Air Force)U.S. Army H-34A-SI Choctaw (Sikorsky S-58) 57-1743 hovers in ground effect. Later registered as a civilian aircraft, N47246). (U.S. Army)U.S. Marine Corps CH-37 Mojave (Sikorsky S-56) heavy-lift helicopterU.S. Navy SH-3A Sea King (Sikorsky S-61), Bu. No. 149867, near Oahu, Hawaiian Islands, 5 April 1976. (PH2 (AC) Westhusing, U.S. Navy)U.S. Air Force HH-3E Jolly Green Giant (Sikorsky S-61R), 66-13290, of the 37th ARRS, hovering in ground effect at Da Nang, 1968. (U.S. Air Force)A U.S. Air Force Sikorsky HH-53C Super Jolly Green Giant hovers to hoist a pararescueman with one downed pilot, while a second waits on the ground, 16 June 1967. The blade tip vortices are visible because of the high humidity. (National Archives at College Park)U.S. Army CH-54A Tarhe 68-18448 (Sikorsky S-64) heavy-lift helicopter, Nevada National Guard, 16 November 1989. (Mike Freer/Wikipedia)U.S. Air Force MH-53M Pave Low IV 68-8424 (Sikorsky S-65), prepares for its last combat mission, Iraq, 27 September 2008. (A1C Jason Epley, U.S. Air Force)U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers dismount a Sikorsky UH-60 Blackhawk, Zabul Province, Afghanistan, 21 January 2010. (Detail from photograph by Staff Sergeant Aubree Clute, U.S. Army)U.S. Air Force HH-60G Pave Hawk (Sikorsky S-70) 89-26212, Kunar Province, Afghanistan. (Captain Erick Saks, U.S. Air Force)British Airways’ Sikorsky S-61N Sea King G-BEON, 1982.An Erickson Air-Crane, Inc., Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane drops water on a forest fire. (Sikorsky Archives)A Los Angeles County Fire Department Sikorsky S-70A Firehawk, N160LA, during a rescue near Palmdale, California, 27 March 2004. (Alan Radecki/Wikipedia)A Queen’s Helicopter Flight Sikorsky S-76C, s/n 760753, G-XXEB (Russell Lee/Wikipedia)Cougar Helicopters’ Sikorsky S-92A C-GKKN landing at Ilulissat Airport, Greenland, 5 August 2010. (Algkalv/Wikipedia)The prototype Sikorsky CH-53K King Stallion (Sikorsky, A Lockheed Martin Company)
Martin JRM-3 Mars, Bu. No. 76822, Marshall Mars. (U.S. Navy)
19 May 1949: Martin JRM-3 Mars, Marshall Mars, United States Navy Bureau of Aeronautics serial number (Bu. No.) 76822 flew from the Alameda Naval Air Station on the east shore of San Francisco Bay, to San Diego Bay, a distance of approximately 450 miles (725 kilometers). On board, in addition to the flight crew of 7, were 301 passengers.
Mrtin JRM-3 Marshall Mars with its passengers. (NOAA)
The Associated Press wire service reported the story:
NAVY’S BIG FLYING BOAT MARSHALL MARS CARRIES 301 PERSONS
SAN FRANCISCO, May 19—(AP)—The Navy’s big flying boat Marshall Mars carried a record load of 301 passengers—plus seven crewmen—on a flight to San Diego today.
It had never carried more than 269 passengers before.
The 1:52 p.m. takeoff, from the naval air station at Alameda, across the bay, was uneventful.
Today’s passengers are personnel of Air Group 5, Alameda Naval Air Station, who are being transferred to San Diego. Mattresses on the floor were provided for men unable to find seats.
Four Martin JRM-3 Mars flying boats in formation. In the foreground is Philippine Mars, Bu. No. 76820. The second airplane is Marianas Mars, Bu. No. 76821. (U.S. Navy)
The Martin JRM Mars was a large four-engine flying boat transport built by the Glenn L. Martin Company for the U. S. Navy. Only five were built, four designated JRM-1, with the last one being a JRM-2. Each airplane was given an individual name derived from the names of island chains in the Pacific Ocean: Marianas Mars, Hawaii Mars, Philippine Mars, Marshall Mars and Caroline Mars. These airplanes were used to transport personnel and cargo between the West Coast of the United States and the Hawaiian Islands. All were upgraded to JRM-3.
The Martin JRM-3 Mars had a normal crew of 4, with accommodations for a relief crew. It was designed to carry 133 combat troops or 32,000 pounds (14,515 kilograms) of cargo. It was 117 feet, 3 inches (35.738 meters) long with a wingspan of 200 feet (60.960 meters) and height of 38 feet, 5 inches (11.709 meters). The flying boat had an empty weight of 75,573 pounds (34,279.3 kilograms) and a loaded weight of 90,000 pounds (40,823.3 kilograms). The maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) was 165,000 pounds (74,842.7 kilograms).
A NASA publication states, “A zero-lift drag coefficient of 0.0233 and a maximum lift-drag ratio of 16.4 made the JRM the most aerodynamically efficient of any of of the flying boats. . . .”
The Martin Mars was powered by four air-cooled, supercharged, direct-fuel-injected, 3,347.662-cubic-inch-displacement (54.858 liter) Wright Aeronautical Division R-3350-24WA (Cyclone 18 825C18BD1) (also known as the Duplex-Cyclone), a two-row 18-cylinder radial engines with a compression ratio of 6.70:1 and water/alcohol injection. This engine has a normal power rating of 2,000 horsepower at 2,400 r.p.m at 5,500 feet (1,676 meters) and 1,800 horsepower at 2,400 r.p.m. at 15,000 feet (4,572 meters). The engine’s takeoff power rating is 2,500 horsepower at 2,900 r.p.m. 100/130 octane aviation gasoline was required. The engines drove four-bladed 16 foot, 8 inch (5.080 meter) Curtiss Electric variable-pitch propellers through a 0.4375:1 gear reduction. (After modification to the JRM-3, the propellers on the inboard engines were reversible.) The R-3350-24WA is 6 feet, 8.58 inches (2.047 meters) long, and 4 feet, 6.13 inches (1.375 meters) in diameter. Its dry weight is 2,822 pounds (1,280 kilograms).
The JRM-3 had a cruise speed of 190 miles per hour (305.8 kilometers per hour) and a maximum speed of 221 miles per hour (355.7 kilometers per hour). The service ceiling was 14,600 feet (4,450 meters) and its range was 5,000 miles (8,046.7 kilometers).
On 5 April 1950, Marshall Mars had an engine fire and made an emergency landing off Diamond Head, Hawaii. The crew was rescued but the airplane exploded and sank. The wreck was discovered on the sea floor in August 2004.
The remaining airplanes were later converted to fire fighting airplanes in Canada. Only two remain.
Martin JRM-3 Mars, Bu. No. 76822, Marshall Mars, burning off Diamond Head, Oahu, Territory of the Hawaiian Islands, 5 April 1950. (U.S. Navy)
Malcolm and Allan Loughead in cockpit of their F-1 flying boat, 1918. (San Diego Air & Space Museum)
12 April 1918: Allan and Malcolm Loughead, owners of the Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company of Santa Barbara, California, set speed and distance records as they flew their twin-engine, ten-place F-1 flying boat from Santa Barbara to San Diego. The F-1 traveled 211 miles (340 kilometers) in 3 hours, 1 minute.
Designed by friend and employee John Knudson (“Jack”) Northrop, and built in a garage on State Street, the F-1 was launched on a wooden ramp at West Beach.
The airplane was intended for the U.S. Navy, but the end of World War I ended the requirement for new airplanes.
The Loughead F-1 was a twin-engine, three-bay biplane flying boat operated by a crew of 2. It could carry 8–10 passengers. The airplane was 35 feet (10.668 meters) long. The span of the upper wing was 74 feet (22.555 meters) and the lower wing was 47 feet (14.326 meters). The height was 12 feet (3.658 meters). The F-1 had an empty weight of 4,200 pounds (1,905 kilograms) and gross weight of 7,300 pounds (3,311 kilograms).
Loughead F-1 at Santa Barbara, 1918. (San Diego Air & Space Museum)
The F-1 was powered by two right-hand tractor, water-cooled, normally-aspirated 909.22-cubic-inch-displacement (14.899 liters) Hall-Scott A-5-engines. These were inline six-cylinder single-overhead-camshaft (SOHC) engines with a compression ratio of 4.6:1. It was rated at 150 horsepower and produced 165 horsepower at 1,475 r.p.m. The engines were mounted on steel struts between the upper and lower wings. The engines were direct-drive and turned two-bladed, fixed pitch propellers with a diameter of 8 feet, 8 inches (2.642 meters). The Hall-Scott A-5-a was 5 feet, 2.5 inches (1.588 meters) long, 2 feet, 0 inches (0.610 meters) wide and 3 feet, 7.875 inches (1.114 meters) high. It weighed 595 pounds (270 kilograms).
The F-1 had a cruise speed of 70 miles per hour (113 kilometers per hour) and maximum speed of 84 miles per hour (135 kilometers per hour).
The F-1 was converted to a land plane with tricycle undercarriage and redesignated F-1A. During an attempted transcontinental flight, it twice suffered engine failure and was damaged. Reconfigured as a flying boat, the airplane was used for sight-seeing before being sold. It was abandoned on a beach at Santa Catalina Island, off the coast of Southern California, and was eventually destroyed.
Loughead F-1, 1918. (San Diego Air & Space Museum)
The Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company would go on to become one of the world’s leading aerospace corporations.
Martin JRM-3 Mars Bu. No. 76822, Marshall Mars, burning off Diamond Head, Oahu, Hawaiian Islands, 5 April 1950. (U.S. Navy)
While on a test flight following an engine change, a United States Navy Martin JRM-3 Mars seaplane, Marshall Mars, Bu. No. 76822, suffered an engine fire (inboard, left wing) and made an emergency landing at Ke’ehi Lagoon, off Diamond Head, Hawaii, 5 April 1950. The airplane’s crew was rescued but the airplane exploded and sank.
The wreck was discovered on the sea floor in August 2004 at a depth of approximately 1,400 feet (427 meters).
The Martin JRM Mars was a large four-engine flying boat transport built by the Glenn L. Martin Company for the U. S. Navy. originally designed as a patrol bomber, the prototype XPB2M-1 Mars made its first flight on 3 July 1942, Only five transport variants were built, four designated JRM-1, with the last one being a JRM-2. Each airplane was given an individual name derived from the names of island chains in the Pacific Ocean: Marianas Mars, Hawaii Mars, Philippine Mars, Marshall Mars and Caroline Mars. These airplanes were used to transport personnel and cargo between the West Coast of the United States and the Hawaiian Islands. All were upgraded to JRM-3.
Four Martin JRM-3 Mars flying boats in formation. (U.S. Navy)
The Martin JRM-2 Mars had a normal crew of 4, with accommodations for a relief crew. It was designed to carry 138 combat troops or 34,000 pounds (15,422 kilograms) of cargo. It was 120 feet, 3 inches (36.652 meters) long with a wingspan of 200 feet, 0 inches (60.960 meters) and height of 43 feet, 8 inches (13.310 meters), with beaching gear. The wing area was 3,686 square feet (342.4 square meters). The flying boat had an empty weight of 80,701 pounds (36,605 kilograms) and a maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) 0f 165,000 pounds (74,843 kilograms).
Martin JRM-2 Mars three-view illustration with dimensions. (U.S. Navy)
A NASA publication states, “A zero-lift drag coefficient of 0.0233 and a maximum lift-drag ratio of 16.4 made the JRM the most aerodynamically efficient of any of the flying boats. . . .”
Martin JRM-3 Mars, Bu.No. 76822, Marshall Mars. (U.S. Navy)
The Martin Mars was powered by four air-cooled, supercharged, direct-fuel-injected, 3,347.662-cubic-inch-displacement (54.858 liter) Wright Aeronautical Division R-3350-24WA (Cyclone 18 825C18BD1) (also known as the Duplex-Cyclone), a two-row 18-cylinder radial engines with a compression ratio of 6.70:1 and water/alcohol injection. This engine has a normal power rating of 2,000 horsepower at 2,400 r.p.m at 5,500 feet (1,676 meters) and 1,800 horsepower at 2,400 r.p.m. at 15,000 feet (4,572 meters). The engine’s takeoff power rating is 2,500 horsepower at 2,900 r.p.m. 100/130 octane aviation gasoline was required. The engines drove four-bladed 16 foot, 8 inch (5.080 meter) Curtiss Electric variable-pitch propellers through a 0.4375:1 gear reduction. (After modification to the JRM-3, the propellers on the inboard engines were reversible.) The R-3350-24WA is 6 feet, 8.58 inches (2.047 meters) long, and 4 feet, 6.13 inches (1.375 meters) in diameter. Its dry weight is 2,822 pounds (1,280 kilograms).
The JRM-3 had a cruise speed of 165 knots (190 miles per hour/306 kilometers per hour) and a maximum speed of 211 knots (243 miles per hour/391 kilometers per hour) at 15,600 feet (4,755 meters). The service ceiling was 19,700 feet (6,005 meters) and its range was 3,790 nautical miles (4,361 statute miles/7,019 kilometers).
A U.S. Navy Martin JRM Mars. (Glenn L. Martin Co.)
Sikorsky S-42 NC822M, Brazilian Clipper, first of three of the initial S-42 variant. (NASM)
30 March 1934: At Bridgeport, Connecticut, Sikorsky Aircraft Company test pilot Boris Vasilievich Sergievsky made the first flight of the prototype Sikorsky S-42, a large, four-engine flying boat which had been designed for long range passenger and cargo flights.
In discussions with Igor Sikorsky, Charles A. Lindbergh, acting as technical advisor to Pan American Airways System, the two aviation icons established the specifications for a new flying boat. The new airplane would be a significant improvement over Sikorky’s previous S-40.
The Hartford Courant report:
New Giant Sikorsky Tries Its Wings
Sikorsky S-42 (Associated Press Photo)
Bridgeport. March 30.—(AP)—America’s greatest passenger plane, the S-42, destined for the South American service, took to the air for the first time and passed two test flights with flying colors.
Once for 10 minutes, and again for a longer period, the giant flying boat hovered over Long Island Sound and its shore. Captain Boris Sergievsky, accompanied only by a lone mechanic, was at the controls.
“Congratulations, sir,” Igor Sikorsky, designer of the plane, hailed the pilot as he came ashore after the flights.
“The congratulations,” Captain Sergievsky replied, “are yours, sir.”
“I am very pleased with the results,” Sikorsky said. “It was most thrilling to see the ship take off. Everything seems excellent.”
Frederick W. Neilsen, president of the Sikorsky Aviation Corporation, who watched the flights with Sikorsky and hundreds of residents of Bridgeport and shore towns, said, “The tests were most successful and we are all pleased.”
The ship, built for Pan American Airways on specifications by Colonel Charles A. Lindbergh, technical advisor for the line, is the first of six such planes to be completed for Pan American.
Powered with four engines, it is 76 feet long, has a span of 114 feet 2 inches, and a gross weight of 38,000 pounds. It will be fitted with 32 passenger seats, and will have a non-stop range of 1200 miles with a full complement of passengers, five members of the crew and 1000 pounds of mail.
—The Hartford Courant, Vol. XCVII, Saturday, 31 March 1934, Page 18, Columns 4 and 5
Interior of a Sikorsky S-42. (NASM)
The Sikorsky S-42 was a four-engine long-range flying boat built for Pan American Airways by the Vought-Sikorsky Aircraft Division of United Technologies at Stratford, Connecticut. It was 67 feet, 8 inches (20.625 meters) long with a wingspan of 114 feet, 2 inches (34.798 meters). The S-42 had an empty weight of 18,236 pounds (8,272 kilograms) and gross weight of 38,000 pounds (17,237 kilograms). It could carry up to 37 passengers.
A Pan American Airways Sikorsky S-42.
The S-42 was powered by four air-cooled, supercharged, 1,690.537-cubic-inch-displacement (27.703 liters) Pratt & Whitney Hornet S1E-G nine-cylinder radial engines with a compression ratio of 6.5:1. The S1E-G had a Normal Power rating of 750 horsepower at 2,250 r.p.m., to 7,000 feet (2,134 meters), and 875 horsepower at 2,300 r.p.m., for Takeoff. The engines drove three-bladed Hamilton Standard constant-speed propellers through a 3:2 gear reduction. The S1E-G was 4 feet, 1.38 inches (1.254 meters) long, 4 feet, 6.44 inches (1.383 meters) in diameter, and weighed 1,064 pounds (483 kilograms).
Boris Vasilievich Sergievsky
The S-42 had a cruise speed 165 miles per hour (266 kilometers per hour) and maximum speed of 188 miles per hour (303 kilometers per hour) at 5,000 feet (1,524 meters). The service ceiling was 16,000 feet (4,877 meters). It could maintain 7,500 feet (2,286 meters) with three engines. Its range was 1,930 miles (3,106 kilometers).
During flight testing of the S-42, Boris Sergievsky, with co-pilot Raymond B. Quick, set three Fédération Aéronautique Internationale world records for payload and altitude.¹ Later, Captain Edwin Musick, with Sergievsky and Charles Lindbergh, flew the S-42 to set eight Fédération Aéronautique Internationale world records for speed.²
Ten Sikorsky S-42, S-42A and S-42B flying boats were built for Pan Am. None remain in existence.
A Pan American Airways Sikorsky S-42, NC16742, moored at Honolulu, Territory of the Hawaiian Islands. (hawaii.gov/hawaiiaviation)
¹ 26 April 1934 FAI Record File Numbers: 11583: Greatest load to 2,000 meters (6,562 feet): 7,533 kilograms (16,652 pounds). 17 May 1934: 11582 and 11978: Altitude with a 5,000 Kilogram (11,023 pounds) Load, 6,220 meters (20,407 feet).
² 1 April 1934 FAI Record File Numbers: 11517: Speed over a closed circuit of 1,000 Kilometers (621.3 statute miles), 253,60 km/h (157.58 m.p.h.); 11518: . . . with a 500 Kilogram (1,102 pounds) Payload, 253,60 km/h (157.58 m.p.h.); 11519: . . . with a 1,000 Kilogram (2,205 pounds) Payload, 253,60 km/h (157.58 m.p.h.); 11520: . . . with a 2,000 kilogram (4,409 pounds) Payload, 253,60 km/h (157.58 m.p.h.); 11521: Speed over a closed circuit of 2,000 Kilometers (1,242.7 statute miles), 253,18 km/h (157.32 m.p.h); 11522: . . . with a 500 Kilogram Payload, 253,18 km/h (157.32 m.p.h.); 11523: . . . with a 1,000 Kilogram Payload, 253,18 km/h (157.32 m.p.h.); 11524: . . . with a 2,000 Kilogram Payload, 253,18 km/h (157.32 m.p.h.).
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