With the S-5, Igor Sikorsky's fortunes began to change. Completed in late April 1911, with a 50hp Argus water-cooled engine, it was tested in a series of 20 to 30-second straight-line flights over a period of three weeks before the young designer was able to make what he called his first real flight of four minutes, in a circuit of the field, on 17 May.

The S-5 was larger than its predecessors, with a wing span of 12m, length of nearly 8.50m and weight of 440kg. After outperforming Russian Army aircraft during manoeuvres watched by Czar Nicholas II, it earned Igor Sikorsky his first money with a series of exhibition flights during a country fair at Belaya Tzerkov, near Kiev. Between nine and ten flying hours were logged before the S-5 was lost through engine failure.