Sikorsky S-38 Amphibian Seaplane- Russian émigré Igor Sikorsky, fleeing the chaos of the 1917 Communist Revolution

The genius behind the great Sikorsky flying boats (and later helicopters)

was Russian émigré Igor Sikorsky. Fleeing the chaos of the 1917

Communist Revolution, Sikorsky came to America and founded a small aircraft company on a chicken farm at Long Island, New York. He began producing amphibian flying boats in 1927, the same year

Charles Lindbergh flew solo in a single engine plane to Paris.

S-34 and S-36 models were basically prototypes of his refined, classic

S-38 design which rolled out in 1928. It was a big hit and the S-38

became the choice of millionaires and explorer-adventurers. It was also chosen by airlines like Pan American Airways and Hawaii's Inter-Island Airways to be in their fleet. But Sikorsky also later produced the classic Pan Am S-40 and S-42 Flying Clippers and the S-43 "Baby Clippers" also operated by Inter-Island Airways (later as Hawaiian Airlines).

Sikorsky S-38. The genius behind the great Sikorsky flying boats (and later helicopters) was Russian émigré Igor Sikorsky. Fleeing the chaos of the 1917 Communist Revolution, Sikorsky came to America and founded a small aircraft company on a chicken farm at Long Island, New York. He began producing amphibian flying boats in 1927, the same year Charles Lindbergh flew solo in a single engine plane to Paris. S-34 and S-36 models were basically prototypes of his refined, classic S-38 design which rolled out in 1928. It was a big hit and the S-38 became the choice of millionaires and explorer-adventurers. It was also chosen by airlines like Pan American Airways and Hawaii's Inter-Island Airways to be in their fleet. But Sikorsky also later produced the classic Pan Am S-40 and S-42 Flying Clippers and the S-43 "Baby Clippers" also operated by Inter-Island Airways (later as Hawaiian Airlines).