The Sikorsky S-41 was an amphibious

flying boat A flying boat is a type of seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in having a fuselage that is purpose-designed for flotation, while floatplanes rely on fuselage-mounted floats for buoyancy. Though ...

airliner An airliner is a type of airplane for transporting passengers and air cargo. Such aircraft are most often operated by airlines. The modern and most common variant of the airliner is a long, tube shaped, and jet powered aircraft. The largest ...

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 wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...

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 d ...

biplane flying boat,

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

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

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

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 wings. 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 engine, reciprocating type internal combustion engine, internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinder (engine), cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. ...

s mounted on struts between the

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French language, French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds Aircrew, crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an Aircraft engine, engine as wel ...

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 naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

Accidents and incidents

* On 27 August 1931, A Sikorsky S-41, NC41V of Boston-Maine Airways crash landed 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 or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

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

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( ; ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Haiti, most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 1,200,000 in 2022 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The me ...

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.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