Explorer's Air Yacht
The Sikorsky S-38 Flying Boat
Capelotti, Peter J.
First Edition. First Printing.
"Peter Capelotti's book on the S-38 has a special meaning for me, because it was on the S-38 that I had my first flight. I was perhaps seven or eight years of age, and the details are long forgotten. I do remember that my father sat in the co-pilot's seat, and I on his lap. The pilot's seat was occupied by the colorful chief test pilot of Sikorsky Aircraft, Captain Boris "Bob" Sergievsky. I remember the aircraft rolling down the seaplane ramp into the Housatonic River in Stratford, Connecticut. I remember that the water came up pretty close to the cockpit window as we taxied out… but since all was calm in the cockpit, I assumed this was normal.
As the engines went to full power, the noise was exciting. The spray across the windshield suddenly stopped and we were in the air. It all happened so quickly, that I was unaware we were flying until I noticed the water was below us. It was a wonderful feeling to sit on Dad's lap and look out the window at the world that was suddenly so vast and beautiful.
As I said, the details are long forgotten, but the snapshot-like fragments are still fresh in my mind.
To me, the S-38 will always be associated with my first brief flight. To my father, Igor Sikorsky, I believe the S-38 meant a great deal more. It was, after all, the first commercial success for the small and struggling Company in America. It laid the foundation for the later creation of the great Sikorsky "Clipper" ships for Pan American Airways and so many other airlines and private owners around the world. In ist day, it was the highest-performing amphibian in the world.
I am pleased and thankful that Mr. Capelotti has written this book about an aircraft so dear to two generations of Sikorskys."
SERGEI SIKORSKY, Stratford, Connecticut
Softcover, large format
82 Seiten / pages
many rare photos, illustrations and 3-side-views
very good condition
Missoula, Montana - 1995 - Pictorial Histories Publishing Company
Art.Nr. 23949
