In The Aviator there is a great scene with Hughes and Kate Hepburn flying in Hughes' private plane in the night over Beverly Hills. After some painstaking research, I found out that the airplane they are flying is a Sikorsky S-38. It is really beautiful and graceful.
I have just decided that when I get a house I will also get an airplane like that. Battling it out on the ground with other drivers of cars doesn't appeal to me a lot. But flying high above them does!
I am just hoping that there is a modern plane which is as beautiful as this one. I think airplanes and cars from the early twentieth century are much more beautiful than modern ones. I wonder why this is?
Men designed automobiles and airoplanes back then...not computers! They were designing for speed but not the kind of speed we think of today...Their creations were "Classy"...It was a time when men acted like gentlemen and treated women like ladies...(Some men still do that today but not like back then)...
ReplyDeleteWe are the Modern Age...Everything has to be FAST...
And women were "Classy" back then as well...
I have always particularly loved seaplanes.... absolutely gorgeous...
ReplyDeleteThe plane in the photos was painstakingly recreated to replicate an original used by MR Johnson from Johnson wax to explore for carnuba wax in Brazil. It is wonderful to see it in person. There is also a mock up of the same plane in the EAA museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, home of personal aviation
ReplyDeleteFor what use was the Johnson plane recreated?
ReplyDeleteI beleive the reproduction was made to celebrate an anniversary. I will ask friends who know the family for details and get back to you.
ReplyDelete(I gotta get registered!)
The Sikorsky S-38 was recreated by the ancestors of H.F. Johnson, the son of the founder of Johnson Wax. They wanted to recreate the original flight that H.F. took to Brazil to find the Caranauba plant (essential in the production of wax). The recreated plane was flown to Brazil by Sam Johnson (now deceased) and his sons Fisk and Curt a few years back. I have seen the plane in person, and it is magnificant. It is funny that the original post described the S-38 as "graceful". In person, the plane is anything but graceful. If you are interested in learning more about the Johnson's plane, go to www.scjohnson.com and click on the press releases. They family is embarking on a journey to locate the original plane that H.F. flew, that crashed into the ocean a couple of years after the original flight to Brazil.
ReplyDelete"In person, the plane is anything but graceful."
ReplyDeleteDo you mean not graceful looking, or not graceful flying?
It seems like I beaten to the punch with the answers. A final bit of news, the reproduction is currently kept at Racine Wisconsin's airport.
ReplyDeleteSikorsky... One of the russian man who moved to USA. So many people lost for my country.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.airventure.org/2006/news/060126_carnauba.html
ReplyDeleteHere's a link from the EAA website with an update on the S-38
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ReplyDeleteold thread, I know.
ReplyDeletejust pointing out that the S-38 was the first flying boat built during that period.
it was the granddaddy of all flying boat that came later.
I think it would be hard to own one as 2 of those flying boats are in display in museum and airport.
you'd have to buiid one. :D