Sikorsky S-36
| Sikorsky S-36 | |
|---|---|
 S-36 in flight |
|
| Type: | Amphibious aircraft |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| First flight: |
1927 |
| Number of pieces: |
5 or 6 |
The Sikorsky S-36 was an eight-seat amphibious aircraft built in the mid-1920s by the US manufacturer Sikorsky Manufacturing Co. , which was used for both civil and military purposes.
history
Sikorsky tested the S-36 as the second design of an amphibious aircraft and improved successor to the S-34 during 1927. The S-36 had a largely unchanged structural design, but had larger wings and, as a characteristic feature, a second smaller wing halfway up the fuselage, under which a support float was attached to the left and right. That is why the S-36 is sometimes referred to as a one -and- a -half- decker. Another difference was that the wing was positioned significantly higher above the fuselage to allow the engines to be attached below the surfaces. Initially the S-36 flew with the pilot and passenger seats open, later the machines were given a continuous cover that ensured an aerodynamically favorable transition to the rear.
Of the at least five S-36s produced, the Canadian oil company Andean National Corporation and Pan American Airways each received one . The latter is delivered on December 7, 1927 with the registration number NC3699 to Pan Am, which carried out route exploration flights in the Caribbean with it in 1928. Because of unsatisfactory performance, Pan Am returned the machine to Sikorsky.
The single S-36, which was delivered to the US Navy in 1927 or 1928, received the designation XPS-1 during testing . Another machine was bought by Frances Grayson , a niece of Woodrow Wilson , at the end of 1927 , who wanted it to be a woman's first flight across the Atlantic. The aircraft named The Dawn (registration number NX1282) disappeared after take-off on December 23, 1927 with Grayson and two pilots on board, without a trace over the Atlantic.
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Data |
|---|---|
| crew | 2 |
| Passengers | 6th |
| length | 10.37 m |
| span | 17.08 m |
| Takeoff mass | 2720 kg |
| Cruising speed | 144 km / h |
| Top speed | 178 km / h (estimated) |
| Service ceiling | 4600 m (estimated) |
| Range | 320 km |
| Engines | 2 × Wright J-4 nine-cylinder piston engines with 200 or 225 hp each, which propelled two-blade metal propellers that can be adjusted on the ground |
See also
literature
- ER Johnson: American Flying Boats and Amphibious Aircraft , McFarland and Co., 2009, ISBN 978-0-7864-3974-4 , pp. 70-72
- ER Johnson: United States Naval Aviation 1919-1941 , McFarland and Co., 2011, ISBN 978-0-7864-6269-8 , p. 145
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ REG Davies: PAN AM An Airline and its Aircraft , Hamlyn, 1987, p. 12