The Royale Line's S-38 (NC199H)

 

Royale Line S-38-B Houghton Sands, Michigan - 1932 Note: Passengers in windows Photo: Kukkonen Studios via Clyde Harold Wescoat of Copper Harbor, Michigan	Royale Line S-38-B Houghton Sands, Michigan - 1932 Photo: Kukkonen Studios via Clyde Harold Wescoat of Copper Harbor, Michigan	Royale Line S-38-B Houghton Sands, Michigan - 1932 Photo: Kukkonen Studios via Clyde Harold Wescoat of Copper Harbor, Michigan
Royale Line S-38-B Houghton Sands, Michigan - 1932 Photo: Kukkonen Studios via Clyde Harold Wescoat of Copper Harbor, Michigan	Royale Line S-38-B Houghton Sands, Michigan - 1932 Photo: Kukkonen Studios via Clyde Harold Wescoat of Copper Harbor, Michigan	Inside the Royale Line's S-38-B Houghton Sands, Michigan - 1932 Photo: Kukkonen Studios via Clyde Harold Wescoat of Copper Harbor, Michigan
Inside the Royale Line's S-38-B Houghton Sands, Michigan - 1932 Photo: Kukkonen Studios via Clyde Harold Wescoat of Copper Harbor, Michigan	Royale Line Poster Photo: Richard Adams	NC199H in Northwest Colors Photo: Clyde Wescoat via Richard Adams
NC199H in Northwest Colors Photo: Clyde Wescoat via Richard Adams

The airplane shown above was completed by Sikorsky in 1928. Her original owner was the Southern Sugar Company which operated an enormous sugar cane plantation around on the southern side of Lake Okeechobee (Florida). The Southern Sugar Company went bankrupt in 1929 and NC199H was aquired by a private party in Mukwanago (WI). In 1932, C.H. Wescoat purchased NC199H and set up The Royale Line. The Royale Line was a flying boat service that was set up in 1932 to ferry passengers between Houghton and Lake Superior's Isle Royale. The final disposition of NC199H is unknown.

Credit for these photo's goes to Clyde Harold Wescoat of Copper Harbor, Michigan, the grandson of the Royale Line's founder. Clyde Wescoat dug these photos out of his grandfather's archives. The photos were shot by Kukkonen Studios, of Hancock, Michigan in 1932 on what are called the Houghton Sands--which are located on the canal dividing the Keweenau Peninsula from the rest of the Upper Peninsula. Richard Adams produced these copies which are digital photographs of the original big plate photographs.