One of three surviving S-39 amphibians of the 21 built in the early 1930s, NC803W flown by the Civil Air Patrol during WW2 on U-boat spotting missions. It was recovered from Alaska in 1963 as a crashed wreck, with restoration at NEAM completed in 1996

The last of twenty-one S-39s built. Small Shell logo on rear fuselage but large title and logo on wing. Aircraft is reported to be a restoration project in California. Photo from: SFO Museum

The S-39 is an American light amphibious aircraft produced by Sikorsky during the early 1930s. This particular aircraft made its first flight in July 1930 and is the oldest surviving Sikorsky-built aircraft. During WWII it was flown by the Civil Air Patrol from Rehoboth, DE on U-boat reconnaisance sorties and occasional SAR flights. After the war it became a bush plane in Alaska but was abandoned after a crash landing in 1957. Fortunately, the hulk was retrieved in 1963 and brought to NEAM, where restoration in its original CAP scheme was completed in November 1996.

Postcard. The aircraft was originally an S-39A and was registered from 1930 until April 1948. Probably the last owner was Ebon L Mason of Springfield, Missouri.

Nice overview of many Civil Air Patrol aircraft parked on the apron at Coastal Patrol Base 17 at Suffolk County Airport, Long Island, NY (today's Westhampton Beach). Official Civil Air Patrol photo.

Upgraded from an S-39A. We gather the S-39A did not have the ventral fin. Some twenty S-39 amphibians were built in the early 1930s and mostly sold to private owners despite the Depression. Photo by: Alfred Eisenstaedt / Life

A February 1932 article in Time magazine makes clear the original Air Ferries company in the San Francisco Bay area only operated until the fall of 1931. Walter Varney gave it another try, flying between the 'landing button' at Pier 5 in San Francisco and the Bay Airdrome in Alameda. The 'big' Loening C-2 was replaced by the Sikorsky S-39, a single-engined derivative of the S-38. The fare was reduced to $1, but the air service ceased again in August 1933, several years before the opening of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge which is blamed for its demise. Photo from: San Diego Air & Space Museum

1930-built single-engine 4/5 seat amphibian with single fin carried on twin boom tail assembly.