The S-5 was powered by a 50 hp (37 kW) Argus water-cooled engine turning a propeller Sikorsky designed and built himself.

The fabric covering the wooden wings was tightened with pure alcohol and glue mixed with boiling water.

[1] After outperforming Imperial Russian Army aircraft during manoeuvres watched by Czar Nicholas II in September, the S-5 earned Igor Sikorsky his first income with a series of exhibition flights during a country fair at Belaya Tserkov, near Kiev.

The crash was caused by fuel starvation due to debris (a mosquito) blocking the carburetor jet.

[2] Data from The Osprey Encyclopaedia of Russian Aircraft 1875–1995[3]General characteristics Performance