Sikorsky S-16 (RBVZ S-XVI)

Biplane Fighter / Bomber Escort Aircraft [ 1916 ]

The Sikorsky S-16 served solely with the Russian Empire air service during World War 1 and was taken on by the Soviet Union until their retirement in 1923.

Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 06/15/2016 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site.

Image copyright www.MilitaryFactory.com; No Reproduction Permitted.

GO TO SPECIFICATIONS [+]

Advertisements

Designed by Ukrainian aviation engineer Igor Sikorsky, the S-16 was developed to a Russian Empire requirement for a capable two-seat biplane fighter to serve as escort for the large, ponderous, multi-engined Ilya Muromets bomber. The bomber itself was a design from Sikorsky and the world's first four-engined bomber type when it appeared in 1913. Over 85 were built for the Imperial Russian Air Service and saw combat in World War 1 (1914-1918). The S-16 fighter appeared some years later and its production totals were much less. It was also recognized under the designation of RBVZ S-XVI which noted the manufacturer ("Russo-Baltic Wagon Works").

Externally, the S-16 featured a conventional arrangement for the period and was constructed largely of wood with fabric skinning. An equal-span biplane wing arrangement was selected which featured single bays and parallel struts. The fuselage held slab-sides and mounted the engine in a frontal compartment shrouded over in thin metal. The tail utilized a shallow vertical fin and low-set horizontal planes. The undercarriage constituted two main legs, via a strut network, and double-wheeled bogies were seated under the center mass of the aircraft. Interestingly, the crew of two was seated side-by-side in a staggered, open-air cockpit arrangement. Initially intended to carry a French Le Rhone engine of 100 horsepower, the S-16 was instead finalized with a Gnome air-cooled rotary engine of 80 horsepower driving a two-bladed wooden propeller unit due to limited supplies of the 100 horsepower form. This would ultimately derail the fighter's performance when compared to its contemporaries. Performance specifications included a maximum speed of 75 miles per hour and a rate-of-climb nearing 410 feet-per-minute.

Armament amounted to a single 7.7mm Lavrov (or British Vickers) type machine gun fitted over the engine cowling. The weapon was synchronized (with Lavrov synchronization gear) to fire through the spinning propeller blade marking the S-16 as one of the first combat aircraft of the war to feature this revolutionary trait. About 500 7.7mm rounds were afforded this gun.

First flight of an S-16 prototype occurred on February 6th, 1915 and service introduction came during January of 1916, the stock formed from a contract order for eighteen of the type. In practice, the line was agile enough but its underperforming engine would not allow it to become a classic of the war. Additionally, the events of 1917 and the immediate period following took the Russian Empire out of its war with Germany and forced the S-16 to be used in anger against Russians themselves during the Russian Revolution. The Soviet Union was born in place of the Empire during 1922 and those S-16 aircraft that remained in service were taken into the inventory of the newly-formed Soviet Air Force. These did not survive much longer for the line was retired in full in 1923.

Before its end, engineers attempted several experiments through the S-16 design including an additional machine gun installation (along the upper wing), floats for water-born landings and take-offs and different wing and engine fits.©MilitaryFactory.com

Note: The above text is EXCLUSIVE to the site www.MilitaryFactory.com. It is the product of many hours of research and work made possible with the help of contributors, veterans, insiders, and topic specialists. If you happen upon this text anywhere else on the internet or in print, please let us know at MilitaryFactory AT gmail DOT com so that we may take appropriate action against the offender / offending site and continue to protect this original work.

Specifications

Service Year

1916

Origin

Russia

Crew

1

Production

18
UNITS

RBVZ / Sikorsky - Imperial Russia

(View other Aviaton-Related Manufacturers)

Russia; Soviet Union

(OPERATORS list includes past, present, and future operators when applicable)

✓ Air-to-Air Combat, Fighter
General ability to actively engage other aircraft of similar form and function, typically through guns, missiles, and/or aerial rockets.

Length

20.3 ft
(6.20 m)

Width/Span

27.6 ft
(8.40 m)

Height

9.1 ft
(2.78 m)

Empty Wgt

904 lb
(410 kg)

MTOW

1,488 lb
(675 kg)

Wgt Diff

+584 lb
(+265 kg)

(Showcased structural values pertain to the base Sikorsky S-16 (RBVZ S-XVI) production variant)

Installed: 1 x Le Rhone air-cooled rotary engine developing up to 100 horsepower.

Max Speed

75 mph
(120 kph | 65 kts)

Rate-of-Climb

410 ft/min
(125 m/min)

♦ MACH Regime (Sonic)

Sub

Trans

Super

Hyper

HiHyper

ReEntry

♦

(Showcased performance specifications pertain to the base Sikorsky S-16 (RBVZ S-XVI) production variant. Performance specifications showcased above are subject to environmental factors as well as aircraft configuration. Estimates are made when Real Data not available. Compare this aircraft entry against any other in our database or View aircraft by powerplant type)

1 x 7.7mm Lavrov (or Vickers) machine gun synchronized to fire through the spinning propeller blades.

Supported Types

Graphical image of an aircraft medium machine gun

(Not all ordnance types may be represented in the showcase above)

Hardpoint Mountings: 0

S-16 - Base Series Designation

RBVZ S-XVI - Alternative Designation

Military lapel ribbon for Operation Allied Force

Military lapel ribbon for the Arab-Israeli War

Military lapel ribbon for the Battle of Britain

Military lapel ribbon for the Battle of Midway

Military lapel ribbon for the Berlin Airlift

Military lapel ribbon for the Cuban Missile Crisis

Military lapel ribbon for pioneering aircraft

Military lapel ribbon for the Falklands War

Military lapel ribbon for the French-Indochina War

Military lapel ribbon for the Golden Age of Flight

Military lapel ribbon for the 1991 Gulf War

Military lapel ribbon for the Indo-Pak Wars

Military lapel ribbon for the Iran-Iraq War

Military lapel ribbon for the Korean War

Military lapel ribbon for the 1982 Lebanon War

Military lapel ribbon for the Malayan Emergency

Military lapel ribbon representing modern aircraft

Military lapel ribbon for the attack on Pearl Harbor

Military lapel ribbon for the Six Day War

Military lapel ribbon for the Soviet-Afghan War

Military lapel ribbon for the Spanish Civil War

Military lapel ribbon for the Suez Crisis

Military lapel ribbon for the Ukranian-Russian War

Military lapel ribbon for the Vietnam War

Military lapel ribbon for Warsaw Pact of the Cold War-era

Military lapel ribbon for the WASP (WW2)

Military lapel ribbon for the World War 1

Military lapel ribbon for the World War 2

Military lapel ribbon for the Yom Kippur War

Military lapel ribbon for experimental x-plane aircraft

Ribbon graphics not necessarily indicative of actual historical campaign ribbons. Ribbons are clickable to their respective aerial campaigns / operations / aviation periods.

Images Gallery

1 / 3

Image copyright www.MilitaryFactory.com; No Reproduction Permitted.

2 / 3

Image copyright www.MilitaryFactory.com; No Reproduction Permitted.

3 / 3

Image copyright www.MilitaryFactory.com; No Reproduction Permitted.

❮ ❯