The Sikorsky S-42 flying boat was built by Sikorsky Aircraft to a requirement set out by Pan American World Airways. Powered by four Pratt & Whitney R-1690 Hornet engines, the first aircraft took flight on 29 March 1934.
Up to 37 passengers could be carried in a day configuration, in contrast to 14 when setup for overnight flights with sleeping berths. With a cruising speed of 160-170mph (257 to 273kmh), the long-range flying boat could reach places up to 1,200 miles (1,900km) away before refueling.
Sikorsky S-42 Video
Following on from the last video about the Short 360, this time we head over to the USA to look at the Sikorsky S-42 flying boat. The first video runs for just under two minutes and shows one landing in Hong Kong, taxiing, and the passengers getting off into a dinghy.
Next up is a 48 second excerpt from what must be a longer film. With its camp period voiceover, I’d love to see the rest of this. The snippet is well worth it though!
Great, isn’t it? The real treat is coming though, with some amazing colour footage of the Sikorsky S-42 in this period travelogue for Rio de Janeiro. It features air to air shots, a brief cabin piece, landing and taxiing.
After the first minute, it goes on all about Rio. Great to see that though! For the last one we switch back to black and white footage, with the first one minute and eight seconds showing the aircraft.
The second half of the thing is all about gliders, which is interesting but irrelevant for this article. I’d still like to know what is going on though!
The Cabin
With large round windows that resembled the portholes on a ship, the interior was designed to be a “Flying Clipper Ship” as Pan American put it at the time. You can see this illustrated well in the images below.
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- Fittings make it look a bit like a luxury yacht.
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- Generous windows for seeing outside.
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- Dinner time or tea time while flying 1930s style.
All aircraft of the era were quite loud inside, which must have become annoying after hours and hours of travel. Still, with flying being such a novelty, I imagine people didn’t mind.
Overall Thoughts
Just ten Sikorsky S-42 flying boats were produced, all for Pan American. Six were lost in accidents and the remainder were withdrawn from service in 1946, making a service history of 12 years. Three of the remaining four were scrapped and one was turned into a houseboat. The fate of the houseboat is unknown.
While the flying boat era is considered quite glamorous, it was a pretty dangerous way to travel. Landing and take-off were quite hazardous with many aircraft being lost during these phases of flight. That is one of the many reasons we don’t travel in flying boats today.
What did you think of the videos? I imagine no-one reading has ever been on a Sikorsky S-42! Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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Featured image via This Day In Aviation.
Two cabin interior images via JPB Trans Consulting.
I do not, but I wish I did.
You and me both! 🙂
I knew the S-42 was pivotal in Pan Am’s flying boat fleet but I hadn’t realized that only 10 were built. IIRC the S-42 was the plane that inaugurated trans Atlantic passenger service among several other notable accomplishments.The Miami base featured in a couple of the films is now city hall where the winged globes are still visible on the building.
I wasn’t aware the old Pan Am building is now city hall. It’s good that it is still being used and was not demolished or something like that. Yes, it’s amazing how small the production runs were on some of the aircraft back then. Really crazy!