Sikorsky Aircraft
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| Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation | |
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| Type | Manufacturer |
| Founded | 1925 |
| Founder | Igor Sikorsky |
| Headquarters | Stratford, Connecticut, USA |
| Industry | Aviation |
| Parent | United Technologies Corporation |
| Subsidiaries | Schweizer Aircraft PZL-Mielec |
| Website | sikorsky.com |
Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation is an American aircraft manufacturer.
Contents |
[edit] History
Sikorsky was founded in 1925 by Kiev-born Russian American aircraft engineer Igor Sikorsky.[1] He developed the first stable, single-rotor, fully-controllable helicopter to enter large full-scale production in 1942, upon which the majority of subsequent helicopters were based (though he did not invent the helicopter itself). The company became a part of United Aircraft in 1929, now United Technologies Corporation (UTC), and remains one of the leading helicopter manufacturers, producing such well-known models as the UH-60 Black Hawk and SH-60 Seahawk, as well as experimental types like the Sikorsky X-Wing. It is a leading defense contractor. Sikorsky has supplied the helicopter of the President of the United States, Marine One since 1957. (Note that in January 2005 the U.S. Government selected Lockheed Martin's AgustaWestland EH101-based entry as the replacement to the current Marine One aircraft, which caused an outcry from many in Sikorsky Aircraft's home state of Connecticut.) Sikorsky's VH-3 (SH-3 Sea King) and VH-60 (UH-60 Black Hawk) currently perform this role.
The company also acquired Helicopter Support Inc. (H.S.I) in 1998. This company handles all the after-market support for the Sikorsky product. H.S.I is responsible for approximately 40% of the company's EBIT.
UTC acquired Schweizer Aircraft Corp. in 2004,[2] which now operates as a subsidiary of Sikorsky. The product lines of the two firms are complementary, and have very little overlap, as Sikorsky primarily concentrates on medium and large helicopters, while Schweizer produces small helicopters, UAVs, gliders, and light planes. The Schweizer deal was signed on August 26, 2004, exactly one week to the day after the death of Paul Schweizer, the company's founder and majority owner.
In late 2005, Sikorsky completed the purchase of Keystone Helicopter Corporation, located in Coatesville, PA. Keystone had been maintaining and completing Sikorsky S-76 and S-92 helicopters prior to the sale.
In 2007, Sikorsky opened the Hawk Works,[3] a Rapid Prototyping and Military Derivatives Completion Center (RPMDCC) located west of the Elmira-Corning Regional Airport in Big Flats, NY.
Sikorsky's main plant and administrative offices are located in Stratford, Connecticut. Other Sikorsky facilities are in Shelton, and Bridgeport, Connecticut; West Palm Beach, Florida and Troy, Alabama. Other Sikorsky-owned subsidiaries are in Trumbull, Connecticut; Coatesville, Pennsylvania and Grand Prairie, Texas; and the company has branches around the world.
[edit] Aircraft
Sikorsky designates nearly all of its models with S-numbers; numbers S-1 through S-20 were designed by Igor Sikorsky in Russia. Later models, especially helicopters, received multiple designations by the military services using them, often depending on purpose (UH, SH, and MH for instance), even if the physical craft had only minor variations in equipment. In some cases, the aircraft were returned to Sikorsky or to another manufacturer and additionally modified, resulting in still further variants on the same basic model number.
[edit] Airplanes
- Sikorsky S-29-A: twin-engine cargo biplane. First Sikorsky built in the U.S. Appeared in Howard Hughes' Hell's Angels (1924)
- Sikorsky S-30: twin-engine, never built. (1925)
- Sikorsky S-31: single-engine biplane (1925)
- Sikorsky S-32: single-engine two-passenger biplane (1926)
- Sikorsky S-33: "Messenger" single-engine biplane (1925)
- Sikorsky S-34: twin-engine flying boat prototype. (1927)
- Sikorsky S-35: three-engine biplane prototype (1926)
- Sikorsky S-36: eight-seat two-engine flying boat "Amphibion" (1927)
- Sikorsky S-37: "Guardian" eight-seat two-engine biplane (1927)
- Sikorsky S-38: eight-seat two-engine boat flying boat (USN PS) (1928–1933)
- Sikorsky S-39: five-seat single-engine variant of S-38 (1929–1932)
- Sikorsky S-40: "Flying Forest" four-engine 28-passenger flying boat (1931)
- Sikorsky S-41: twin-engine flying boat (1931)
- Sikorsky S-42: "Clipper" four-engine flying boat (1934–1935)
- Sikorsky S-43: "Baby Clipper" twin-engine amphibious flying boat (1935–1937) (Army OA-1, USN JRS-1)
- Sikorsky VS-44: four-engined flying boat (1937)
- Sikorsky S-45: six-engine flying boat (for Pan Am. Never built.)
[edit] Helicopters
- VS-300
- Sikorsky S-47 (R-4): world's first production helicopter. (1940)
- Sikorsky S-48 (R-5/H-5): helicopter designed with higher load, endurance, speed, and service ceiling than the R-4 (1943)
- Sikorsky S-49 (R-6): improved R-4
- Sikorsky S-51: world's first commercial helicopter (1946)
- Sikorsky S-52 (H-18/HO5S): helicopter with all-metal rotors (1947)
- Sikorsky S-55: utility helicopter (1949)
- Sikorsky S-56: twin-engined helicopter, H-37A Mojave (1953)
- Sikorsky S-58: improved S-55 (1954)
- Sikorsky S-59 (XH-39): 2 H-18s converted to use one turboshaft engine (1953)
- Sikorsky S-60: prototype "flying crane" helicopter, crashed 1961 (1959)
- Sikorsky S-61: SH-3 Sea King; ASW, SAR or transport helicopter (1959)
- Sikorsky S-61R: redesigned S-61 with rear cargo ramp; CH-3, HH-3 "Jolly Green Giant", and HH-3F Pelican (1963)
- Sikorsky S-62: HH-52 Seaguard amphibious helicopter (1958)
- Sikorsky S-64: CH-54 Tarhe "flying crane" (1962)
- Sikorsky S-65: CH-53 Sea Stallion medium/heavy lift helicopter (1964)
- Sikorsky S-67 Blackhawk: prototype attack helicopter (1970)
- Sikorsky S-69: prototype with contra-rotating co-axial rotors, twin conventional tail (1973)
- Sikorsky S-70: UH-60 Black Hawk, SH-60 Seahawk (1974)
- Sikorsky S-72: rotor systems research for NASA (1975)
- Sikorsky S-75: Advanced Composite Airframe Program (ACAP) all-composite proof of concept helicopter (1984)
- Sikorsky S-76 Spirit: 14-seat commercial (1977)
- Sikorsky S-80: CH-53E Super Stallion heavy lift helicopter (1974)
- Sikorsky S-92 and military H-92 Superhawk and CH-148 Cyclone (1995)
- Sikorsky X2: concept demonstrator with twin, contra-rotating rotors and a pusher prop.
[edit] Other Aircraft
- Sikorsky Cypher: Doughnut-shaped UAV (1992)
- Sikorsky Cypher II: development of above (2001)
[edit] Customers
Sikorsky's helicopters are used in a variety of applications fairly balanced between commercial and military use. This gives Sikorsky a wide customer base within the United States as well as internationally. Some specific customers are given below:
- In 1938, Howard Hughes purchased an S-43 for a proposed round-the-world flight. Hughes is pictured in The Aviator teaching Katharine Hepburn to fly in an S-38.
- Pan American used the S-40, S-42 and other models for their early "flying clippers".
- In January 2005, the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) acquired six new Sikorsky S-70B naval helicopters which will operate off the RSN's new Formidable class frigates [1].
- In addition, Sikorsky is a major supplier of helicopters to the U.S. Military including Marine One and the versatile Black Hawk.
[edit] Museum displays
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- 1958 UH-34D Seahorse
- 1962 HH-52A Seaguard
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- 1915 S-16 Replica
- 1930 S-39 Amphibian
- 1942 VS-44A
- 1947 S-51
- 1958 LH-34D Seabat
- 1967 HH-52A Seaguard
- 1969 CH-54B Skycrane
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- 19?? VS-300
[edit] Gallery
 H-34 Choctaw |
 CH-124 Sea King |
 CH-54 Tarhe |
 CH-53E Super Stallion |
 MH-53J Pave Low III |
 MH-53J/M Pave Low |
 UH-60 Black Hawk |
 S-92 |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ About Sikorsky, Sikorsky Aircraft, accessed 10 May 2008.
- ^ Schweizer acquisition press release
- ^ Hawk Works opening article GlobalSecurity.org
[edit] External links
- Sikorsky homepage
- Sikorsky Timeline at the Helicopter History Site
- Sikorsky entry at Aerofiles
- Patents owned by Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation. US Patent & Trademark Office. Retrieved on December 6, 2005.
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