It begins.
That airplane is an Explorers Air Yacht – S-39, and that’s Sergei Sikorsky standing in front of it along with Kermit Weeks. Sergei’s dad Igor basically invented the helicopter. But before he started building choppers, he built quite a few of these seaplanes in the 1920s and 30s. Most of them were the Pan Am Clippers that flew around the islands and down to South America.
This is the oldest and only S-39 still flying. The S-39 did some very important work with explorers Osa and Martin Johnson in Africa and Borneo in the 1930s. These aircraft enabled them to film the very first aerial footage of Kilimanjaro and Serengeti and many, many other places. This nearly 100-year-old footage is invaluable to researchers today. After months and months of prep work, we’re slowly starting to embark on our expedition and shoot this project. 
Keep up with our travels: https://www.facebook.com/WingsOverTanzania
