The Sikorsky S-35 was an American triple-engined

sesquiplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While a ...

transport later modified to use three-engines. It was designed and built by the Sikorsky Manufacturing Company for an attempt by

René Fonck Colonel René Paul Fonck (27 March 1894 – 18 June 1953) was a French aviator who ended the First World War as the top Entente fighter ace and, when all succeeding aerial conflicts of the 20th and 21st centuries are also considered, Fonc ...

on a non-stop

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for the

Orteig Prize The Orteig Prize was a reward offered to the first Allied aviator(s) to fly non-stop from New York City to Paris or vice versa.Bak. Pages 28 and 29. Several famous aviators made unsuccessful attempts at the New York–Paris flight before the rel ...

. It was destroyed in the attempt.

Design and development

The S-35 was designed as a twin-engined transport with a range. During 1926

, a French

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

fighter ace, was looking for a multi-engine aircraft to enter a competition to be the first to fly non-stop from New York to Paris. Raymond Orteig offered a prize of $25,000. Fonck had Sikorsky redesign the aircraft with three engines. The S-35 was a

with a fixed tail-skid landing gear. It was modified to take three Gnome-Rhône Jupiter 9A radial engines and fitted with jettisonable auxiliary landing gear. These modifications took time to complete and the aircraft first flew on 23 August 1926 from

Roosevelt Field Roosevelt Field is a former airport, located east-southeast of Mineola, Long Island, New York. Originally called the Hempstead Plains Aerodrome, or sometimes Hempstead Plains field or the Garden City Aerodrome, it was a training field (Hazel ...

. Sikorsky started a series of test flights but as none were at the

maximum takeoff weight The maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) or maximum gross takeoff weight (MGTOW) or maximum takeoff mass (MTOM) of an aircraft is the maximum weight at which the pilot is allowed to attempt to take off, due to structural or other limits. The analogous ...

of , Sikorsky wanted to delay the transatlantic crossing until early 1927, but the promoters of the flight would not accept a delay and the aircraft was prepared for the crossing.

Operational history

The first transatlantic attempt was scheduled for the September 16 but was abandoned after the aircraft developed a fuel leak. The next available break in the weather was to be the 21 September and the aircraft was fueled during the previous night from 50 barrels of gasoline. When the aircraft was weighed it was found to be overweight. Fonck insisted on carrying a

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and

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on the journey. Fonck and his co-pilot Lt Lawrence Curtin of the U.S. Navy were joined by a radio operator and a Sikorsky mechanic for the flight. In front of a large crowd at Roosevelt Field the aircraft gathered speed, the auxiliary landing gear broke away, the aircraft failed to get airborne and plunged down a steep slope at the end of the runway and burst into flames. The two pilots escaped injury but the radio operator Charles Clavier and mechanic Jacob Islamoff were killed. The aircraft, which had cost $80,000, was not insured.

Specifications

Sikorsky_S-35_3-view_Les_Ailes_June_24,_1926

References

Bibliography

External links