 | Vought-Sikorsky OS2U Kingfisher Vought-Sikorsky Aircraft Division's OS2U Kingfisher was the U. S. Navy's primary ship-based, scout and observation airplane during World War II. Rex Beisel, a design engineer at Vought-Sikorsky Aircraft Company, crafted the OS2U in 1937. Beisel also designed the Vought F4U Corsair fighter. Beisel's Navy scout was a two-seat monoplane that employed revolutionary spot welding construction to create a smooth, non-buckling fuselage structure. He also used old technology to save weight and increase performance when he covered the wings with fabric aft of the main spar. The Kingfisher handled well in slow flight, thanks to several innovative control features. In addition to the deflector plate flaps that hung from the trailing edge of the wing, the ailerons also drooped at low airspeeds to function much like extra flaps. Beisel also incorporated spoilers to supplement aileron control at low speeds. The Kingfisher could carry a respectable load. For antisubmarine work, ordnance men could suspend two 45 kg (100 lb) bombs or two 146 kg (325 lb) depth charges. A fixed .30 caliber machine gun was mounted in front of the pilot to fire forward. A gunner seated several feet behind the pilot fired another .30 caliber machine gun on a flexible mount. The Navy contracted for the prototype XOS2U-1 on March 22, 1937, and this airplane first flew in July 1938, equipped with an air-cooled Pratt & Whitney R-985-4 Wasp Junior radial engine. The first production Kingfisher, the OS2U-1, was delivered early in 1940 and assigned to the battleship "USS Colorado." The Kingfisher could perform a variety of tasks - training, scouting, bombing, tactical and utility missions such as towing aerial gunnery targets and chasing practice torpedoes, and even anti-submarine warfare in the Atlantic Ocean. Most OS2Us operated in the Pacific Theater where Kingfisher pilots rescued many downed airmen. In 1942, a Navy pilot flying a Kingfisher rescued America's World War I ace, Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker, and the crew of a B-17D Flying Fortress forced to ditch in the Pacific. With Rickenbacker and two other passengers, the bomber and its five-man crew had left Hickam Field, Hawaii, bound for Canton Island in the Phoenix Islands group, 2,898 km (1,800 miles) southwest of Hawaii. The Flying Fortress wandered off course and the crew got lost. When the aircraft eventually ran out of fuel and ditched, the eight survivors put to sea aboard three life rafts. Several weeks passed without food or water. By chance, a Kingfisher crewed by Lt. Willam F. Eadie, pilot, and L.H. Boutte, radioman, spotted the raft carrying Rickenbacker and two other crewmen. Eadie strapped the sickest man into the gunner's seat, and then he lashed Rickenbacker and another man to each wing. A Kingfisher could never takeoff with such a load, so Eadie began to taxi toward his base on Funafuti Island, about 64.4 km (40 miles) distant. Soon a Navy Patrol Torpedo boat met the airplane and the other five men were soon rescued. Only one of the eight failed to recover from the long ordeal. General characteristics Crew: Two, pilot and observer Length: 33 ft 10 in (10.31 m) Wingspan: 35 ft 11 in (10.95 m) Height: 15 ft 1.5 in (4.61 m) Wing area: 262 ft² (24 m²) Empty weight: 4,123 lb (1,870 kg) Max takeoff weight: 6,000 lb (2,721 kg) Powerplant: 1× Pratt & Whitney R-985-AN-2 radial engine, 450 hp (336 kW) Performance Maximum speed: 164 mph (264 km/h) Range: 805 mi (1,296 km) Service ceiling: 13,000 ft (3,960 m) Armament 2x .30 in (7.62 mm) M1919 Browning machine guns 650 lb (295 kg) of bombs |
 | Sikorsky S-40 Flying Boat The Sikorsky S-40 was an amphibious flying boat built in the early 1930s, and the largest commercial airliner of its time. Flying for Pan American Airways, a total of three aircraft were built, manufactured by the Vought-Sikorsky Aircraft Division of the United Aircraft Corporation in Stratford, Connecticut. All three were scrapped during World War II. The aircraft first flew on November 19, 1931 and was piloted by Charles Lindbergh from Miami, Florida to the Panama Canal Zone. The S-40 was the first of many aircraft known as Flying Clipper and Pan Am Clipper. The S-40 was nicknamed the "Flying Forest" for its maze of support struts. General characteristics Crew: four Capacity: 40 passengers Length: 76 ft 8 in (23.37 m) Wingspan: 114 ft 0 in (34.76 m) Height: 23 ft 10 in (7.27 m) Wing area: 1,875 ft² (174.3 m²) Empty: 24,748 lb (11,249 kg) Loaded: 34,000 lb (15,455 kg) Maximum takeoff: lb ( kg) Powerplant: 4x Pratt & Whitney R-1690 radial engines, 575 hp (429 kW) each Performance Maximum speed: 135 mph (217 km/h) Range: 875 miles (1,408 km) Service ceiling: 13,000 ft (3,963 m) Rate of climb: ft/min ( m/min) Wing loading: 18 lb/ft² (89 kg/m²) Power/Mass: 0.07 hp/lb (0.11 kW/kg) Flight test report: To: MR. I. I. SIKORSKY cc: Mr. Neilson Capt.Sergievsky Mr. S. Gluhareff Mr. N. Sinitzin Files (2) Date: August 31, 1931 From: M. GLUHAREFF Subject: FLIGHT REPORT ON S-40 AMPHIBION - GROSS WEIGHT 32,000# Weather: clear, approximately 12 wind (N.W.) Temperature: 75 Barometer pressure: 30.04 Time: start 2:15 P.M.; finish 4:13 P.M. Take-off time on water - 30 seconds Cruising on 1650 R.P.M. all engines - average speed 100.5 M.P.H. Cruising on 1750 R.P.M. all engines - average speed 107.75 M.P.H. High speed, full throttle, 2010 R.P.M. all engines - average speed 130.25 M.P.H. Cross wind interfered with the speed test flight; it was exactly 90 degrees to the course. The fairing on the landing gear axles came off, building a screeen about 1-1/2 sq. feet flat plate area on each side. Landing at New Haven Harbor about 3:20 P.M. the fairings from the axles were removed entirely. Climb to Altitude Time Speed Ind. R.P.M. 500 30 sec. 90 1850 1000 1 min. 17 sec. 95 1800 2000 3 min. 7 sec. 95 1820 3000 4 min. 40 sec. 96 1820 4000 6 min. 25 sec. 95 1800 5000 8 min. 10 sec. 97 1800 5800-6000 10 min. At 6000 ft. altitude - three engines - flight was tested - rate of climb approximately 200 ft. per min. (R.P.M. - 1830) At 2000 ft. altitude - two engines - flight was tested - during five (5) minutes 600 ft was lost - (R.P.M. - 1820) At 2000 ft. altutude - three engines - flight was repeated - during 1 minute exactly, the ship gained 200 ft. (from 2100 to 2300 ft.) (R.P.M. - 1820). Pilot: Captain Sergievsky Observers: S.Gluhareff M.Gluhareff Signed M. GLUHAREFF |
 | NEW ENGLAND AIR MUSEUM.VINTAGE PLANES. NEW ENGLAND AIR MUSEUM WINDSOR LOCKS CT ..VINTAGE MILITARY PLANES CIVILIAN PLANES AIR BOATS .. .B29. F16. B 25 .VOUGHT.SIKORSKY HELICOPTERS FLYING BOATS |
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![Daily flights from NYC to Mont Tremblant\](images/articles/thumbs/nytremblantthumb.jpg "Daily flights from NYC to Mont Tremblant\")
