3 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. Sikorsky RS-1 in flight c1932: U.S. Navy· Public domain
- 2. Sikorsky S-41 Aero Digest October,1930: Aero Digest magazine· Attribution
- 3. Sikorsky S-41 left side Aero Digest November,1930: Aero Digest magazine· Attribution
what is it?
The Sikorsky S-41 was an amphibious flying boat airliner produced in the United States in the early 1930s. Essentially a scaled-up monoplane version of the Sikorsky S-38 biplane flying boat, Pan Am operated the type on routes in the Caribbean, South America, and between Boston and Halifax.
How to recognise it: 2 piston engines with propellers · parasol wing · 24 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 96 years ago, in 1930.
- Top speed is 1.6× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- Wingspan of 24 m: about 5 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
- 1930
- number built
- 7
- role
- airliner
- origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- makers
- Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation
- engines
- 2× Pratt & Whitney R-1860 Hornet B
- crew
- 2
- length
- 13.8 m
- wingspan
- 24 m
- max take-off weight
- 6,260 kg
- top speed
- 211 km/h
- cruise speed
- 182 km/h
- range
- —
- ceiling
- 5,550 m
- wings
- parasol wing
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q15143463, Wikipedia: Sikorsky S-41 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.