what is it?
The Sikorsky S-36 was an eight-seat amphibian sesquiplane designed and built by the Sikorsky Manufacturing Company in the late 1920s. The aircraft was ordered by Pan American Airways, the start of a long association with Sikorsky flying boats.
How to recognise it: 2 piston engines with propellers · 18.9 m wingspan
base stats
Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).
fun facts
- First flew 99 years ago, in 1927.
- Wingspan of 18.9 m: about 4 cars parked nose to tail.
piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.
spec sheet
- first flight
- 1927
- introduced
- 1927
- number built
- 6
- role
- eight-seat amphibian
- origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- makers
- Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation
- engines
- 2× Wright Whirlwind radial engine / R-790 Whirlwind
- passengers
- 7
- length
- 10.4 m
- wingspan
- 18.9 m
- height
- 3.7 m
- max take-off weight
- 2,722 kg
- top speed
- 193 km/h
- range
- 322 km
- ceiling
- 4,572 m
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q7513904, Wikipedia: Sikorsky S-36 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.