Sikorsky S-42

infobox Aircraft
name = Sikorsky S-42
type = Flying boat Airliner
national origin=United States
manufacturer = Sikorsky
designer= Igor Sikorsky



caption =
first flight = 30 March 1934
introduced=1934
status = None remaining
primary user = Pan American Airways
more users =
produced =
number built = 10
unit cost =
variants with their own articles = 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.

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. [ [http://www.flyingclippers.com/S42.html Flying Clippers] ]

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. [ [http://daveg4otu.tripod.com/airfields/ham.html Fagan, Dave. 'Hamble' "Aviation in Hampshire UK 1900 to 2000"] ]

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.

pecifications (S-42-A)

aircraft specifications

plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop

ref=Fact|date=February 2008

crew=4
capacity=up to 37 day passengers or 14 sleeper berths
payload main=
payload alt=
length main= 68 ft
length alt=20.73 m
span main=118 ft 2 in
span alt=36.03 m
height main=17 ft 5 in
height alt=5.3 m
area main= 1,329 ft²
area alt= 123.5 m²
airfoil=
empty weight main= 19,764 lb
empty weight alt= 8,984 kg
loaded weight main= 38,000 lb
loaded weight alt= 17,273 kg
useful load main=
useful load alt=
max takeoff weight main=
max takeoff weight alt=
more general=

engine (prop)= Pratt & Whitney R-1690 Hornet,
type of prop=supercharged radial engine
number of props=4
power main= 660 hp
power alt=492 kW
power original=

propeller or rotor?=
propellers=
number of propellers per engine=
propeller diameter main=
propeller diameter alt=

max speed main= 188 mph
max speed alt= 300 km/h
cruise speed main=
cruise speed alt=
stall speed main=
stall speed alt=
never exceed speed main=
never exceed speed alt=
range main= 1,930 miles
range alt=3,088 km
range more=
combat radius main=
combat radius alt=
combat radius more=
ferry range main=
ferry range alt=
ferry range more=
ceiling main= 15,704 ft
ceiling alt= 4,788 m
climb rate main= 1,000 ft/min
climb rate alt= 305 m/min
loading main=28.6 lb/ft²
loading alt=140 kg/m²
thrust/weight=
power/mass main=0.07 hp/lb
power/mass alt=0.11 kW/kg
more performance=

armament=
guns=
bombs=
rockets=
missiles=
hardpoints=
hardpoint capacity=

avionics=

ee also

aircontent
related=
*Sikorsky S-40

similar aircraft=
*Short Empire
*Boeing 314
*Martin M-130

lists=

see also=
* Capt. Edward C. Musick
* Navigator Fred Noonan
* Samoan Clipper

References

;Notes;Bibliography
* [http://daveg4otu.tripod.com/airfields/ham.html 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

* [http://www.flyingclippers.com/S42.html Sikorsky S-42"]