On March 5,1923, Igor I Sikorsky formed the Sikorsky Aero Engineering
Corporation, based at the chicken-farm of his Russian friend Victor
Utgoff (a former lieutenant in the Russian navy), near Roosevelt
Field on Long Island, New York, USA. The first aircraft built was the
S-29-A (Sikorsky’s 29th design, the ‘A’ denoted America), a
twin-engined fourteen passenger airplane. The aircraft was finished
after financial backing by the composer Rachmaninoff, who
subsequently became the company’s first vice president.
The S-29-A had a steel structure while the strutted and wire-braced
wings had were made of wood and linen. The aircraft was initially
fitted with two 220 hp Hispano-Suiza engines. The passengers were
seated in an enclosed cabin in the front part of the fuselage, while
the pilot and the mechanic were seated in an open cockpit on top of
the fuselage, half-way between wing and tailplane. The S-29-A was one
of the first aircraft with an airstair door, it was fitted on the
starboard side.
The S-29-A’s was finished at Roosevelt Field. The intended first
flight on May 4, 1924, did not take place as the aircraft was
damaged. While being repaired the engines were replaced by two 400 hp
Liberty engines and the successful maiden flight was made on
September 25, 1924, from Roosevelt Field. With the Liberty engines
the S-29-A was the first twin-engined aircraft able to fly on a single
engine. Sikorsky made more than 200 demonstration flights to military
and other organizations, but no orders were forthcoming. Sikorsky
made the first dollars with the S-29-A when he transported two grand
pianos from New York City to Washington, D.C., one of the two was
delivered to the wife of President Herbert Hoover.
With no airline and military interest, the S-29-A was sold to Roscoe
Turner in 1925. Turner made many long-distance flights in the East
and Midwest, provided airline service between New York and Atlanta,
advertised the latest fashions for an Atlanta department store, flew
various civic groups to meetings and even transformed the S-29-A into
a "Flying Cigar Store". In 1927 the aircraft was leased to Howard
Hughes and was modified to represent a WW I Gotha bomber in the movie
"Hell's Angels".
Open cockpits were created at the front, while the actual flying was
done from the original cockpit. The aircraft was finished in black
with all kind of (incorrect) German decorations. For the film the
aircraft would simulate a spinning down in flames, but while filming
the plane went out of control. The pilot was able to bail out,
however the mechanic operating the smoke generator didn’t and was
killed in the following crash.