The Explorer's Air Yacht

XCVI

November 1927 marked the first time that Igor Sikorsky launched a flying boat. In reality, the S-34 was more of a missing link between a seaplane and a flying boat than a true flying boat. An amphibian, it had wheels attached to its hull. 

The S-34 had room for a single pilot and five passengers. It was 34 feet long with a 56 foot wingspan. Like the “pusher” planes of World War I, its tail was mounted on the end of a long boom, but it had 2 Wright Whirlwind “tractor”engines mounted on the wing. When Sikorsky and a test crew tried to lift off from the Housatonic River, one engine failed, and a crash occurred. No one was hurt, but the S-34 was wrecked. 

S-34

The S-36 was an enlarged and improved S-34.  Sikorsky improved the tail boom structure and replaced the Whirlwind J-4s with larger Whirlwind J-5s. She could carry six passengers and two crew. LOA was still 34 feet, but the wing was enlarged to 62 feet, and the landing gear was made retractable.   The S-36 became a production aircraft, but only six were built. One was ordered by Pan American, making it the first of Pan Am’s flying boats. 

 

S-36

The S-38 was the first mass-produced flying boat manufactured by Sikorsky. Over 100 were built and sold to various individuals and air carriers.  Howard Hughes owned one, as did John Hay Whitney. Various militaries around the world, including the United States Army and Navy, bought S-38s. Because they were rugged, easily maintained, and, as amphibians, could fly and land anywhere, they became known as “The Explorer’s Air Yacht.”

S-38. "The Explorer's Air Yacht" was flown by Amelia Earhart, Charles Lindbergh, and Richard E. Byrd

The S-38A had a crew of two, and space for ten passengers. Later configurations had larger engines and could carry more passengers. Their LOA was 40’ 3” and their wingspan was 71’ 8”. The S-38 used two Pratt & Whitney Wasp engines. 

The interior of Howard Hughes' personal S-38

A more typical seating configuration of the S-38 with upholstered wicker chairs. Passengers boarded at the rear and descended the steps to the cabin deck. The plane boasted, among its appointments, a "toilet room"

A small fleet of S-38s were delivered to NYRBA and its subsidiary, NYRBA do Brasil in 1929. Ultimately, these all became Pan American aircraft. Pan Am kept several, but parceled the rest out to Panagra and to Panair do Brasil, the subsidiary it had formed out of NYRBA do Brasil.  

S-38s have been restored and replicated numerous times. A favorite habit among aviation historians is to restore the planes of famous people. Martin and Osa Johnson were professional adventurers. Martin had been a crewmember of Jack London's Snark. Together, the Johnsons explored "darkest" Africa, the jungles of North Borneo, and various remote South Pacific islands, supporting themselves by writing and documentary filmmaking. The Johnsons thus introduced most Americans to lands they had never seen or even heard of. Their S-38, Osa's Ark was painted in a distinctive zebra pattern. The Johnson's flew the length of Africa, north to south, in Osa's Ark

The S-39 was a single-engine variant of the S-38. The Johnsons owned this plane, the running mate to Osa's Ark, which they named Spirit of Africa