[WWII-ish] Sikorsky S-39 Flying Boat

[Phaelen Bleux]

An ideal conveyance for a party of Cliffhanger PCs:

Sikorsky S-39
Designed by Igor Sikorsky in the late 1920's, the S-39 was an all purpose transport that could carry four or five passengers and their baggage. Its ability to be used from water and land made it an ideal aircraft for remote areas, and it was used extensively by explorers in Africa and Alaska. Many accumulated more than 1,000 hours of flight time despite these harsh conditions, and it appears that all S-39 ended their lives in Alaska. Only 23 aircraft were built. The S-39-C was a conversion of two -Bs produced in 1931.
There are only three known surviving examples of the S-39: one on static display in the New England air museum, one in the process of recovery from the bottom of Two Lakes Alaska, and Dick Jackson's "Spirit of Igor" which is flight-worthy after 40 years and 40,000 hours of restoration.
The S-39 burns 14.9 gallons of aviation fuel per hour at routine usage. A full load of fuel costs $18.

Sikorsky S-39-C
Subassemblies: Light Fighter-Bomber chassis +3; Light Fighter-Bomber wings +3; two Small Weapon wing pontoons +0, Medium Weapon engine pod +1, 3 fixed wheels +1. All waterproofed.
Powertrain: 298-kW aerial HP gasoline engine with 298-kW prop and 90-gallon fuel tank [Body].
Occ.: 2 CS, 4 PS Body
Cargo: 6 Body

Armor
Body: 1/1, 3/5U
Wings: 1/1
Wheels: 2/3
Pontoons: 1/1, 3/5U
Engine Pod: 1/1

Equipment:
Body: Medium radio transmitter and receiver, navigation instruments, backup driver, autopilot.

Statistics:
Size: 32'x52'x?' Payload: 0.66 tons Lwt.: 2.01 tons
Volume: 312 Maint.: 71 hours Cost: $7,966

HT: 9. HPs: 83 Body, 60 each Wing, 8 each Wheel, 38 Engine Pod, 23 each Pontoon.

aSpeed: 140 aAccel: 4 aDecel: 22 aMR: 5 aSR: 2
Stall Speed: 46 mph. Take-Off Run: 176 yards. Landing Run: 212 yards.
gSpeed: 244 gAccel: 12 gDecel: 10 gMR: 0.75 gSR: 2
Ground Pressure: High. 1/6 Off-Road Speed.
wSpeed: 18 wAccel: 4 wDecel: 10 (12) wMR: 0.1 wSR: 2
Flotation Rating: 6.72 tons. Draft: 1'. Take-Off Run 529 yards.

Design Notes:
Historical wing area was 350 sf. The weight, costs and HPs off all assemblies and subassemblies have been halved to represent a light-weight civilian design. Nevertheless, design loaded weight was decreased 9% to the historical. Performance calculations were based on historical values for wing area and loaded weight. The aircraft requires a 10 mph headwind for water-based take-offs.

Variants:
The S-39-A (1929) was an initial run of 11 planes with a 224-kW engine. It had 4 or 5 passenger seats and cost $17,500. aSpeed 115 mph.
The S-39-B (1930) seated 5. 12 were produced, including conversions from existing -As. These planes typically only carried 65 gallons of fuel. aSpeed 119 mph. Historical cost was $20,000.
The S-39-CS (1932) was a single conversion of a -C model to feature a 280-kW engine.