Subsequently, in the United States during the 1920s and 1930s, Sikorsky developed a series of outstanding commercial flying boats.1 In June 1935, the U.S. Navy ordered a prototype for a new patrol bomber from Sikorsky and in July 1936, from Consolidated. These were four-engine flying boats with long ranges and large payloads. The Sikorsky aircraft was designated XPBS-1 by the Navy.
On 9 September 1937, the XPBS-1 made its first flight, with the Consolidated XPB2Y-1 flying the following 17 December. After extensive evaluations, the Navy initiated production of the Consolidated design.2
The Sikorsky flying boat had a high wing mounting four radial engines, tall tail fin, and fixed, outboard floats. It was the first U.S. military aircraft to be fitted with a nose as well as tail gun turret, plus it had provisions for two waist guns. The turrets were to mount a single, hand-operated .50-caliber machine gun; the two waist positions were for single .30-caliber guns. As a patrol bomber it was intended to carry 4,000 pounds of bombs.
The Sikorsky XPBS-1 “patrol bomber”—unofficially named the Flying Dreadnought—entered Navy service as a transport, flying with various squadrons. It ultimately flew with Transport Squadron (VR) 2 at Naval Air Station Alameda near San Francisco, California, from 1940 onward. On 30 June 1942, the XPBS-1 struck a submerged object when landing at Alameda and sank. Among the passengers on board was Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander-in-Chief Pacific, who suffered minor injuries. One of the flight crew was killed in the accident.
Meanwhile, in 1940, Vought-Sikorsky hoped to regain the Pan American Clipper routes that previously were serviced by its S-42, a four-engine, 36-passenger flying boat. The “new” aircraft was the VS-44, based on the XPBS-1. This aircraft had more powerful engines, was faster, and had greater range than its progenitor. Although the VS-44 set several records for flying boats, it lost out to the Martin M-130 and later to the Boeing 314 Clipper for the PanAm routes.
However, American Export Airlines ordered three VS-44s—called the “Flying Aces” with the names Excalibur, Excambian, and Exeter. These were luxury airliners with seating for 40 passengers and 16 full-length beds for long flights. The planes had dressing rooms, a comfortable lounge, a full galley, and a snack bar.
When the United States entered World War II, the armed forces took possession of some 200 commercial transport aircraft, including the three VS-44s. Given the Navy utility designation JR2S-1, these aircraft were the only U.S. cargo planes capable of flying nonstop across the north and south Atlantic with a full payload. During the war they carried passengers and cargo from U.S. bases to Foynes, Ireland. With a reduced payload they could fly almost 5,000 miles.
The former Excalibur crashed on takeoff from Newfoundland in 1942, killing 11 of the 37 persons on board. The two other aircraft served throughout the war and then were returned to commercial service with their parent firm, being operated by American Airlines.
On the eve of World War II, the U.S. armed forces also had procured 22 of Sikorsky’s smaller, S-43 amphibious flying boats.3 These twin-engine, 15-passenger aircraft were highly popular with commercial airlines, being able to operate from land or water. Fifty-three were built, with the Navy acquiring 15 planes and the Marine Corps another two in 1937–1938 with the designation JRS-1. (The Army bought another five, designated Y10A-8; one civilian S-43 commandeered in 1942 became the Army’s OA-11.)
Ten of the JRS-1 aircraft were at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941; all survived the Japanese surprise attack. Some were then pressed into the antisubmarine role, being fitted with underwing bomb racks. The JRS-1s remained in naval service as transports throughout World War II.
After the war, in 1946, the four-engine Exeter was sold to the Uruguayan airline TACI, and the Excambian was sold to Tampico Airlines. The former crashed in 1947; the latter was resold to Avalon Air Transport, mainly flying the 12-mile route between Long Beach and Santa Catalina Island, California, from 1957 to 1967. It then was acquired by the Caribbean Antilles Air Boats Service in 1968, but it was damaged while taxiing in 1969.
In 1976, the damaged and corroding Excambian was donated to the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida, by Charles Blair, the original chief pilot for the VS-44 program. In 1983 the museum transferred the aircraft on permanent loan to the New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks, Connecticut.
Restoration of the Excambian finally began in 1987. A decade later, restored to the post–World War II livery of American Export Airlines, the aircraft reached the New England Air Museum. It was “dedicated” in October 1998—the last remaining American-built, four-engine commercial flying boat.
Thus ended the saga of Igor Sikorsky’s large flying boat programs.
1. The Sikorsky Aviation Corp. became a component of United Aircraft Corp. in 1929 and as a result of a 1939 merger became the Vought-Sikorsky Division of United Aircraft.
2. Including prototypes, the Navy purchased 217 PB2Ys—assigned the name Coronado. The program was truncated because of costs, with a PB2Y costing about three times as much as the ubiquitous, twin-engine PBY Catalina flying boats. See N. Polmar, “The Big Flying Boat,” Naval History (April 2013), 14–15.
3. Howard Hughes acquired a modified S-43 for his planned around-the-world flight. However, he then opted for the faster Lockheed Super Electra 14 for his 1938 circumnavigation.