Sikorsky
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryAviation
Defense industry
Founded1923 (1923)
FounderIgor Sikorsky
Headquarters
Stratford, Connecticut
,
United States
Key people
Paul Lemmo (President)[1]
ProductsHelicopters, other aircraft
Number of employees
15,975[2] (2014)
ParentLockheed Martin
Divisions
SubsidiariesSchweizer Aircraft (closed 2012)
PZL Mielec (now a Lockheed Martin subsidiary)
Websitesikorsky.com

Sikorsky Aircraft is an American aircraft manufacturer based in Stratford, Connecticut. It was established by aviation pioneer Igor Sikorsky in 1923 and was among the first companies to manufacture helicopters for civilian and military use.

Previously owned by United Technologies Corporation, in November 2015 Sikorsky was sold to Lockheed Martin.

History

On March 5, 1923, the Sikorsky Aero Engineering Corporation was founded near Roosevelt Field, New York, by Igor Sikorsky, a Russian immigrant to the United States who was born in Kyiv.[4][5] In 1925, the company name was changed to Sikorsky Manufacturing Company.[6] After the success of the S-38, the company was reorganized as the Sikorsky Aviation Corporation with capital of $5,000,000, allowing the purchase of land and the building of a modern aircraft factory in Stratford. In 1929, the company moved to Stratford, Connecticut, and it became a part of United Aircraft and Transport Corporation (later United Technologies Corporation or UTC) in July of that year.[7][8]

Advertisement for Sikorsky S-42 Clipper flying boat from 1937

In the United States, Igor Sikorsky originally concentrated on the development of multiengine landplanes and then amphibious aircraft. In the late 1930s, sales declined and United Aircraft merged his division with Vought Aircraft.[7] He then began work on developing a practical helicopter. After first flying the VS-300 he developed the Sikorsky R-4, the first stable, single-rotor, fully controllable helicopter to enter full-scale production in 1942, upon which most subsequent helicopters were based.

Sikorsky Aircraft remains a leading helicopter manufacturer, producing such well-known models as the UH-60 Black Hawk and SH-60 Seahawk, and experimental types such as the Sikorsky S-72. Sikorsky has supplied the Presidential helicopter since 1957. Sikorsky's VH-3 and VH-60 perform this role now.

The company acquired Helicopter Support Inc. (HSI) in 1998. HSI handles non-U.S. government aftermarket support for parts and repair for the Sikorsky product lines.[9][10]

UTC acquired Schweizer Aircraft Corp. in 2004,[11] after which it operated as a subsidiary of Sikorsky. The product lines of the two firms were complementary, and had little overlap, as Sikorsky primarily concentrates on medium and large helicopters, while Schweizer produces small helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), gliders, and light planes. The Schweizer deal was signed on August 26, 2004, exactly one week 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, Pennsylvania. Keystone had been maintaining and completing Sikorsky S-76 and S-92 helicopters prior to the sale.

Sikorsky Aircraft logo until November 2015

In 2007, Sikorsky opened the Hawk Works,[12] a Rapid Prototyping and Military Derivatives Completion Center located west of the Elmira-Corning Regional Airport in Big Flats, New York. That same year Sikorsky purchased the PZL Mielec plant in Poland. The plant is assembling the S-70i for international customers.[13][14]

In February 2009, Sikorsky Global Helicopters was created as a business unit of Sikorsky Aircraft to focus on the construction and marketing of commercial helicopters.[15] The business unit combined the main civil helicopters that were produced by Sikorsky Aircraft and the helicopter business of Schweizer Aircraft that Sikorsky had acquired in 2004.[15] It was based at Coatesville, Pennsylvania until 2022.[15]

In 2011, Sikorsky laid off 400 workers at the Hawk Works plant, and later in 2012 the remaining 570 workers and closed all Sikorsky facilities in Chemung County; moving the military completion work to their West Palm Beach, Florida, facility.[16] The commercial products had already been moved to their Coatesville, Pennsylvania facility.

Sikorsky's main plant and administrative offices are located in Stratford, Connecticut, as is a large company-owned private heliport (ICAO: KJSD, FAA LID: JSD).[17] Other Sikorsky facilities are in Trumbull, Shelton, and Bridgeport, Connecticut (with small company heliport (FAA LID: CT37));[18] Fort Worth, Texas; West Palm Beach, Florida; and Huntsville and Troy, Alabama. Sikorsky-owned subsidiaries are in Grand Prairie, Texas, and elsewhere around the world.

Acquisition

In 2015, UTC considered Sikorsky to be less profitable than its other subsidiaries, and analyzed a possible spin-off rather than a tax-heavy sale.[19][20][21]

On July 20, 2015, Lockheed Martin announced an agreement to purchase Sikorsky from UTC for $9.0 billion.[22] The deal required review from eight different jurisdictions, and the final approval came in November 2015.[23] The sale was completed on November 6, 2015.[24]

AHS Sikorsky Prize

In 1980, the American Helicopter Society International offered a prize of US$10,000 for the first human-powered helicopter flight (60-second duration, a height of 3 meters, and staying within an area of 10 x 10 m) and soon increased prize money to US$25,000. In 2010, Sikorsky Aircraft pledged to increase the prize sponsorship to US$250,000. Canadian engineers Dr. Todd Reichert and Cameron Robertson developed the world's largest human-powered helicopter with a team from the University of Toronto. The first flight of AeroVelo Atlas was achieved in August 2012, the 64-second, 3.3-m-flight that won the prize on June 13, 2013.[25]

Products

Sikorsky designates nearly all of its models with S-numbers; numbers S-1 through S-27 were designed by Igor Sikorsky before he left the Russian Empire. 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.

Airplanes

  • Sikorsky S-28: projected four-engine, 32-passenger biplane airliner; Sikorsky's first American design (1919)
  • Sikorsky S-29-A: twin-engine, cargo biplane, first Sikorsky aircraft built in the U.S. (1924)
  • Sikorsky S-30: twin-engine biplane airliner/mailplane, 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 sesquiplane flying boat prototype (1927)
  • Sikorsky S-35: three-engine biplane transport (1926)
  • Sikorsky S-36 "Amphibion": eight-seat two-engine sesquiplane flying boat (1927)
  • Sikorsky S-37 "Guardian": eight-seat two-engine sesquiplane; Sikorsky's last land-based fixed wing design (1927)
  • Sikorsky S-38: eight-seat, two-engine sesquiplane flying boat (US Navy PS) (1928–1933)
  • Sikorsky S-39: five-seat, single-engine variant of S-38 (1929–1932)
  • Sikorsky S-40: four-engine, 28-passenger monoplane flying boat (1931)
  • Sikorsky S-41: twin-engine monoplane flying boat (1931) (USN RS-1); scaled-up monoplane version of S-38
  • Sikorsky XP2S: twin-engine patrol flying boat prototype (1932)
  • Sikorsky XSS: Naval scout flying-boat (1933)
  • Sikorsky S-42 "Clipper": four-engine flying boat (1934–1935)
  • Sikorsky XBLR-3: Bomber aircraft (1935-1936); Sikorsky's last fixed-wing design
  • Sikorsky S-43 "Baby Clipper": twin-engine, amphibious flying boat (1935–1937) (Army OA-1, USN JRS-1); downsized, twin-engine version of S-42
  • Sikorsky VS-44 "Excalibur": four-engine flying boat (1937)
  • Sikorsky S-45: six-engine flying boat (for Pan Am), never built (1938)
  • Sikorsky S-57/XV-2: Supersonic convertiplane with single blade retractable rotor. Never built.

Helicopters, production

ModelDesignationFromUntilMTOW (lb, t)Notes
S-47R-4194219442,5811.17World's first production helicopter
S-48/S-51R-5/H-5194419524,8252.19higher load, endurance, speed, and service ceiling than the R-4
S-49R-619452,6001.18improved R-4 with new fuselage
S-52H-18/HO5S19472,7001.225all-metal rotors
S-55H-19 Chickasaw19497,5003.41ten passenger utility, H-19 Chickasaw
S-56CH-37 Mojave195331,00014.1twin-piston engined, H-37A Mojave
S-58H-34 Choctaw1954197014,0006.3518 passenger larger, advanced S-55, including ASW, VIP versions
S-61SH-3195919,0008.62medium-lift transport/airliner
S-61SH-3 Sea King19591970s22,05010ASW, SAR or transport
S-61CH-124 Sea King1963201822,05010Canadian Armed Forces export version
S-61RCH-3/HH-319631970s22,05010S-61 with rear cargo ramp: CH-3, HH-3 "Jolly Green Giant", and HH-3F Pelican (1963)
S-62HH-52 Seaguard19588,3003.76amphibious helicopter
S-64 SkycraneCH-54 Tarhe196242,00019.05"flying crane"
S-64CH-54 Tarhe196247,00021US Army transport
S-65CH-53 Sea Stallion1964197842,00019.1medium/heavy lift transport
S-65MH-531967197046,00021long-range search and rescue
S-70UH-60 Black Hawk1974current23,50010.66twin-turbine medium transport/utility, selected in 1976 for the US Army UTTAS, multiple models
S-70SH-60 Sea Hawk1979current23,00010.4US Navy anti-ship warfare, combat, SAR, support, Medevac
S-70HH-60 Pave Hawk1982current22,0009.9USAF combat, SAR, Medevac with PAVE electronics
S-70HH-60 Jayhawk1990199621,8849.93US Coast Guard SAR and patrol
S-761977current11,7005.31twin turbine, 14-seat commercial (ex S-74)
S-80CH-53E Super Stallion19741980s73,50033.3CH-53 derived, export version: S-80
S-92H-92 Superhawk1998current27,70012.6twin-turbine medium-lift developed from the S-70
S-92CH-148 Cyclone2018current28,65013Canadian military S-92 to replace the CH-124 Sea King
S-95[26]CH-53K King Stallion2018current84,70038.4CH-53E Super Stallion/S-80 development
S-300C196420182,0500.93three-seat single-piston, currently made by Schweizer RSG
S-333199220182,5501.16single turbine S-300, currently made by Schweizer RSG
S-434200820153,2001.45improved S-333

Helicopters, prototypes

ModelDesignationYearMTOW (lb, t)Notes
S-46VS-30019391,1500.52first US single lifting rotor helicopter
S-50projected small helicopter; only a wooden mockup built
S-53XHJS-11947naval utility, two prototypes
S-541948R-4B modified to a "sesqui-tandem" configuration
S-59XH-3919533,3611.532 H-18s converted to use one turbine, 1 prototype
S-60195921,0009.5CH-37-derived prototype "flying crane", crashed 1961
S-67Blackhawk197024,27211attack prototype, predecessor: S-66 AAFSS competitor
S-68proposed modification of the S-58T, none built[27]
S-69197312,5005.7prototype jet compound helicopter with coaxial rotors
S-71AAHUS Army Advanced Attack Helicopter entry with S-70 dynamic components[28][29][30]
S-72197626,04711.8NASA experimental jet hybrid
S-73HLH118,00053.5US Army Heavy Lift Helicopter entry
S-7519848,4703.82advanced Composite Airframe Program (ACAP) all-composite, two prototypes
S-97 RaiderAAS201511,0004.99US Army Armed Aerial Scout proposed compound helicopter
S-100SB>1 Defiant2019compound helicopter prototype with rigid coaxial rotors for US Army's Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft competition
S-102[31]Raider X2023compound helicopter with rigid coaxial rotors for US Army's Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft competition
S-103[32]Defiant Xcompound helicopter with rigid coaxial rotors for US Army's Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft competition
Fireflyelectric S-300 unveiled in 2010
X220086,0002.72experimental high-speed compound helicopter with coaxial rotors

Other aircraft

Other products

See also

Comparable major helicopter manufacturers:

References

Citations

  1. ↑ "Daniel C. Schultz · Lockheed Martin". Lockheedmartin.com. Archived from the original on March 9, 2016. Retrieved March 10, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Sikorsky Aircraft's big impact on region". Connecticut Post. September 14, 2014. Retrieved July 20, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Sikorsky Development Flight Center". Retrieved February 9, 2019.
  4. ↑ "About Sikorsky". Archived from the original on July 2, 2009. Retrieved June 5, 2009.
  5. ↑ Sikorsky, Igor (1944). The Story of the Winged-S. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company. p. 160. ISBN 9781258163556.
  6. ↑ Sikorsky, Igor (1944). The Story of the Winged-S. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company. p. 185. ISBN 9781258163556.
  7. 1 2 Spenser 1998
  8. ↑ Sikorsky, Igor (1952). The Story of the Winged-S. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company. pp. 154, 183–184.
  9. ↑
  10. ↑ "Spare Parts". HSI. Archived from the original on February 3, 1999. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  11. ↑ "Sikorsky's Acquisition of Schweizer is Complete" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on April 10, 2008. Retrieved March 18, 2008.
  12. ↑ John Pike (October 5, 2007). "Sikorsky opens HAWK WORKS™ completion center for military helicopters". Globalsecurity.org. Retrieved March 10, 2016.
  13. ↑ "Sikorsky breathes new life into PZL Mielec". Archived from the original on June 11, 2010. Retrieved June 29, 2010.
  14. ↑ "First S-70iTM Helicopter Fully Assembled at Sikorsky Facility in Poland". Archived from the original on January 10, 2011. Retrieved June 29, 2010.
  15. 1 2 3 Sikorsky Press Release, February 23, 2009
  16. ↑ "Sikorsky to close N.Y. plant, cut 570 jobs". Connecticut Post. September 25, 2012. Retrieved July 20, 2015.
  17. ↑ "Sikorsky Heliport". airnav.com. August 13, 2002. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
  18. ↑ "Sikorsky Bridgeport Heliport". airnav.com. August 13, 2002. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
  19. ↑ "United Technologies To Explore Strategic Alternatives For Its Sikorsky Aircraft Business | News | United Technologies". Utc.com. November 3, 2015. Archived from the original on January 26, 2016. Retrieved March 10, 2016.
  20. ↑ "UTC Weighs Sikorsky's Future". Defensenews.com. January 27, 2014. Archived from the original on January 31, 2014. Retrieved March 10, 2016.
  21. ↑ Bruno, Michael (March 12, 2015). "Sikorsky Not Profitable Enough For United Technologies". Aviation Week & Space Technology. Archived from the original on March 14, 2015. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  22. ↑ "Lockheed Martin to Acquire Sikorsky Aircraft and Conduct Strategic Review of IT and Technical Services Businesses". Retrieved July 20, 2015.
  23. ↑ "Lockheed Martin receives final regulatory approval needed to close Sikorsky acquisition| Vertical Magazine - The Pulse of the Helicopter Industry". Verticalmag.com. Retrieved March 10, 2016.
  24. ↑ "Lockheed Martin Completes Acquisition of Sikorsky Aircraft · Lockheed Martin". Lockheedmartin.com. Retrieved March 10, 2016.
  25. ↑ "AHS Congratulates AeroVelo for Human Powered Helicopter First Flight". AHS International – The Vertical Flight Technical Society. August 28, 2012. Retrieved November 9, 2016. The AeroVelo Atlas human-powered helicopter made its first flight on Tuesday August 28, 2012, as part of the AHS Igor I. Sikorsky Human Powered Helicopter Competition.
  26. ↑ Sikorsky Builds Marine Corps Heavy Lift
  27. ↑ Art Linden (June 2013). "S-68, Commercial Transport". Sikorsky Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2017.
  28. ↑ "Sikorsky History - Part 4". Helis.com. Retrieved March 10, 2016.
  29. ↑ "American airplanes: Sikorsky". Aerofiles.com. April 26, 2009. Retrieved April 7, 2011.
  30. ↑ "Sikorsky S-71 profile for AAH". October 17, 2010. Retrieved July 20, 2015.
  31. ↑ Sikorsky Lifts the Army
  32. ↑ Sikorsky Lifts the Army
  33. ↑ "Turbo-Train". Archived from the original on March 29, 2010. Retrieved June 28, 2010.
  34. ↑ "Gunboat". Retrieved May 2, 2020.

Bibliography

  • Spenser, Jay P. (1998). "Sikorsky". Whirlybirds: A History of the U.S. Helicopter Pioneers. University of Washington Press. ISBN 0-295-97699-3.
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