Sikorsky S-5
S-5 | |
---|---|
Role | Prototype |
Designer | Igor Sikorsky |
First flight | April 1911 |
Number built | 1 |
|
The Sikorsky S-5 was an early design by Igor Sikorsky, completed in late April 1911, with a 50 hp (37 kW) Argus water-cooled engine. The S-5 was tested in a series of 20 to 30-second straight-line flights, over a period of three weeks, before the designer was able to make what he called his first real flight of four minutes, in a circuit of the field, on 17 May 1911.
After outperforming Russian Army aircraft during manoeuvres watched by Czar Nicholas II, the S-5 earned Igor Sikorsky his first income with a series of exhibition flights during a country fair at Belaya Tzerkov, near Kiev. Between nine and ten flying hours were logged before the S-5 was lost through an engine failure.
Specifications
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sikorsky aircraft. |
Data from The Osprey Encyclopaedia of Russian Aircraft 1875–1995[1]
General characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Capacity: 1 passenger
- Length: 8.5 m (27 ft 11 in)
- Wingspan: 12 m (39 ft 4 in)
- Gross weight: 440 kg (970 lb)
- Powerplant: 1 × Argus 1908 4-cylinder 4-cyl. inline water-cooled piston engine, 37 kW (50 hp)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 125 km/h (78 mph; 67 kn)
- Range: 85 km (53 mi; 46 nmi)
- Service ceiling: 500 m (1,640 ft)