The Sikorsky S-8 ''Malyutka'' (baby) was a small Russian single engine aircraft built by the Russian Baltic Railroad Car Works shortly after

Igor Sikorsky Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky, (25 May 1889 – 26 October 1972) was a Russian-American aviation pioneer in both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. His first success came with the Sikorsky S-2, the second aircraft of his design and construc ...

became chief engineer of the aircraft manufacturing division in 1912.

Design and development

The S-8 was a two bay

biplane 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 ...

trainer powered by a

Gnome A gnome () is a mythological creature and diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, introduced by Paracelsus in the 16th century and widely adopted by authors, including those of modern fantasy literature. They are typically depict ...

air-cooled

rotary engine The rotary engine is an early type of internal combustion engine, usually designed with an odd number of cylinders per row in a radial configuration. The engine's crankshaft remained stationary in operation, while the entire crankcase and its ...

with the main wings and landing gear of similar design to the S-6-A. Completed early in the summer of 1912, the aircraft featured a side by side seating arrangement with controls that could be moved between the instructor and student. For improved downward visibility the lower wing had no fabric covering between the

wing root The wing root is the part of the wing on a fixed-wing aircraft or winged-spaceship that is closest to the fuselage,Peppler, I.L.: ''From The Ground Up'', page 9. Aviation Publishers Co. Limited, Ottawa Ontario, Twenty Seventh Revised Edition, 1 ...

and first

rib In vertebrate anatomy, ribs () are the long curved bones which form the rib cage, part of the axial skeleton. In most tetrapods, ribs surround the thoracic cavity, enabling the lungs to expand and thus facilitate breathing by expanding the ...

Operational history

On the evening of 17 September 1912, Sikorsky piloted the S-8 on a ninety minute night flight from the Korpusnoi Aerodrome near

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. He landed with help of fires set at the airfield.

Specifications

References

{{Sikorsky Aircraft S-8 Biplanes Aircraft first flown in 1912 Rotary-engined aircraft