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Sikorsky S-43 "Baby Clipper"
by Dan K.J. Vercammen
The S-43 was launched on June 5, 1935. Equipped with two 750hp engines, a top speed of 190mph, and a range of 775 miles, the S-43 reclaimed some of the commercial interest that the original S-38 had brought Sikorsky from his buyers.
The civilian S-43 amphibian was smaller version of the 4-engine S-42 flying boat used by Pan American to make survey flights across the Pacific. These were often referred to as “Baby Clippers”. Seventeen of the fifty-three S-43s manufactured were purchased by the US Navy; fourteen went to Pan Am Airlines, and four flew West African routes for the French airline Aéromaritime, as well as airlines in Russia, Norway, China, and the Philippines. Four of the S-43s were also put to use in shuttling passengers of Inter Island Airways from Honolulu to the major islands of Hawaii. Inter Island Airways became Hawaiian Airlines in October of 1941 at which time they retired the Sikorsky aircraft in favor of DC-3s.
Howard Hughes purchased one for a proposed around the world flight. Although Hughes switched to a Lodestar landplane for his journey, he kept the luxurious S-43 with its modified flush-riveted skin, 1,100hp Cyclone engines, and increased fuel capacity for personal flights. That plane crashed at Lake Meade, Nevada in 1943. It was repaired and stored at the Hughes Tool Company in Houston, Texas until 1977. It was then sold to Van Kregten Enterprise of San Jose, California for a planned museum display.
Inter-Island Airways S-43
While a generally highly-regarded model, an unplanned demonstration of the S-43's power occurred on April 14, 1936 when, Boris Sergievsky, the chief test pilot for Sikorsky, made the world's first single-engine takeoff in a multi-engine plane after losing fuel pressure to the plane's right engine. That same day Boris Sergievsky piloted the S-43 to an altitude record for Class C3 amphibians of 27,950 feet.
The Navy used 15 military versions, JRS-1’s, primarily as utility transports; some were also assigned to the Army (OA-8 and OA-11) and the Marines. The thirteenth production model of the S-43 has resided at the National Air and Space Museum since 1960. This aircraft is one of ten, which survived the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941. Armed with bombs and depth charges fitted to the wings, it was one the first aircraft to be launched after the attack to hunt for the Japanese fleet.
This wonderful watercolor was sent to me by the artist. It reminds me of the work by Ian Marshall.
Still Around...
Howard Hughes' S-43 restored to flying status.
JRS-1 in USMC scheme at the Pima Air & Space Museum, Tucson, Arizona
2002 Wings Publishing
