It was designed and built by the Sikorsky Manufacturing Company for an attempt by René Fonck on a non-stop Atlantic crossing for the Orteig Prize.

[1] During 1926 René Fonck, a French First World War fighter ace, was looking for a multi-engine aircraft to enter a competition to be the first to fly non-stop from New York to Paris.

It was modified to take three 425 hp (317 kW) Gnome-Rhône Jupiter 9A[a] radial engines and fitted with jettisonable auxiliary landing gear directly under the fuselage to support its weight at takeoff.

[1] Speaking after the accident to the French press, Fonck said that he had completed 27 hours test flying the S.35 at various weights including 280 passengers over the period.

[citation needed] Fonck and his co-pilot Lt Lawrence Curtin of the U.S. Navy were joined by a radio operator and a Sikorsky mechanic for the flight.