H.Nowarra, G.Duval Russian Civil and Military Aircraft 1884-1969

As previously mentioned, Igor Sikorski had abandoned his early ideas for a helicopter and turned to fixed-wing design, in co-operation with two other students of the Kiev Polytechnic Institute, Bylinkin and Jordan. This team produced two biplanes, the BJS 1 and 2, the first powered by a 15 h.p. Anzani engine, a larger 25 h.p. Anzani being installed in the second. The BJS 1, a pusher biplane, was hopelessly under-powered, and when an attempt was made to fly it in May, 1910, it would not rise more than a few inches above the ground. With remarkable speed, it was dismantled, the mainplanes being built on to the next version, the BJS 2, which was a tractor biplane with the tailplane mounted on booms, twin fins and rudders, and balanced ailerons, the pilot sitting over the lower wing trailing edge. Flown in June 1910, this machine managed to climb to about 30 ft., attaining a maximum speed of 37 m.p.h.

A.Durkota, T.Darcey, V.Kulikov The Imperial Russian Air Service (Flying Machines)

Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky

Sikorsky S-2

  The S-2 (B.I.S. No.2) was completed in the summer of 1910. Power was provided by a 2Shp Anzani engine mounted in a tractor configuration. Ailerons were attached to the trailing edge of the lower wing and were operated by means of a control lever on the right side of the pilot. The undercarriage was supplied with an anti-nose-over strut.
  On June 3, 1910, Sikorsky made his first flight in the S-2. He took off from a pasture field about two miles from Kiev. "Having never before been in the air, even as a passenger, I had to learn quickly the necessary movements which were familiar in imagination but not yet in reality." The flight lasted 12 seconds and covered a straight-line distance of about 200 yards; the peak altitude was five feet.
  On July 3, 1910, Sikorsky piloted the S-2 for its longest flight, a distance of 1,900 feet and 42 seconds airborne. The next day Sikorsky attempted a circuit of the field. He passed over the airfield fence at some 80 feet altitude, and was caught in a down draft. The S-2 crashed and was totally wrecked; the pilot was bruised but uninjured. Sikorsky later stated, "During its whole career, the S-2 spent some eight minutes in the air. Yet these few minutes in the air represented almost the only reliable source of practical information with respect to design, construction, and piloting that were at my disposal." The S-2 was the third all-Russian-designed aircraft to fly in 1910.



Sikorsky Aircraft Data
Model: S-1 S-2 S-3 S-4 S-5 S-6 S-6A
Year: 1910 1910 1910 1910 1911 1911 1912
Engine(s) type: 15hp Anzani 25hp Anzani 35hp Anzani 50hp Anzani 50hp Argus 100hp Argus 100hp Argus
Length, m: 8 8 8 8 8.5 8.8 9.2
Wing Span; m: top/bottom 8 8 8 8 12/9 11.8 14.5/11.7
Wing Area, m2: 24 24 24 24 33 35.4 39
Wt. empty, kg: 180 190 220 260 320 650 650
Wt. fuel/oil, kg: 10 10 20 30 40 60 60
Wt. load, kg: 70 70 90 100 120 340 450
Wt. flying, kg: 250 260 310 360 440 990 1100
Wingload, kg/m2: 10.4 10.8 13 12.9 13.3 24 23
Powerload, kg/hp: 16 10.2 8.9 7.2 8.8 8.5 9