The Sikorsky S-41 was an amphibious

flying boat A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a hull, while floatplanes rely on fusela ...

airliner An airliner is a type of aircraft for transporting passengers and air cargo. Such aircraft are most often operated by airlines. Although the definition of an airliner can vary from country to country, an airliner is typically defined as an ...

produced in the United States in the early 1930s. Essentially a scaled-up

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

version of the

Sikorsky S-38 The Sikorsky S-38 was an American twin-engined ten-seat sesquiplane amphibious aircraft. It was Sikorsky's first widely produced amphibious flying boat, serving successfully for Pan American Airways and the United States military. Design and de ...

biplane flying boat,

Pan Am Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States ...

operated the type on routes in the Caribbean, South America, and between

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

and Halifax.

Development

The S-41 had a

parasol wing A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

configuration, with two

radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is ca ...

s mounted on struts between the

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...

and the wing. The cabin was completely enclosed within the all-metal hull and could seat 15 passengers.Taylor 1989, p.810''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft'', p.2932 The United States Navy purchased three examples and designated them RS-1; these were joined by two

aircraft pressed into Navy service and designated RS-5.

Variants

;S-41A''Aerofiles'' ;S-41B ;S-41C ;RS-1 :United States Navy designation for three S-41s for evaluation. ;RS-5 :Two S-41s impressed into service with the United States Navy.

Operators

; *

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

Accidents and incidents

* On 27 August 1931, A Sikorsky S-41, NC41V of Boston-Maine Airways crash landed in while making the run between Halifax (N.S.) and Boston (MA). After clinging to the sides of a partially inflated life raft in rough seas for two hours, the 12 survivors were rescued by the ''F/V Nova Julia'', a mackerel seiner out of Gloucester MA, captained by Capt. Leo Favaloro. There was one fatality. Seventy-year-old Edward Bamwell was assumed trapped in the wreckage as it disappeared beneath the waves just a moment after he gallantly allowed one of the three women passengers to precede him to the waiting raft. The Sikorsky had only been in service one month. Heavy fog was cited as the cause of the crash. The S-41 was repaired and reregistered as NC60V.United States Civil Aircraft Register http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_N32.html * On 28 October 1931, Col Thomas C. Turner, Chief of the Aviation Section of the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

, flew as a passenger in a Sikorsky RS-1 to

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( , ; ht, Pòtoprens ) is the capital and most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 987,311 in 2015 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The metropolitan area is define ...

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

.Elliott & Gillespie 1975, p.14Elliott 1977, p.15 After arrival, the aircraft became stuck in the sand; when he got out to inspect it, he was struck in the head by one of its propellers.''New York Times'' 29 October 1931, p.21 He died from his injuries two days later.

Specifications (S-41A)

References