Fleet Finch

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Fleet Finch

Fleet Finch II at the Canadian Museum of Flight British Columbia
Type Trainer
Manufacturer Fleet Aircraft
Maiden flight 8 February 1939
Introduced 1939
Retired 1947
Status Retired
Primary users Royal Canadian Air Force
Portugal
Produced 1939- 1940
Number built 447
Fleet 16B Finch in the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum Hamilton, Ontario
Fleet 16B Finch in the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum Hamilton, Ontario
Fleet 16B Finch at the Canadian Museum of Flight in South Surrey BC, July 1988
Fleet 16B Finch at the Canadian Museum of Flight in South Surrey BC, July 1988

The Fleet Finch (Fleet Model 16) is a two-seat, tandem training biplane produced by Fleet Aircraft of Fort Erie, Ontario. There were a number of variants mainly based on engine variations. Over several years beginning in 1939, a total of 447 Finches were built, nearly all (431) of them for use as elementary trainers in the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) during the Second World War.

Contents

[edit] Design and development

The Fleet 16B Finch II was a progressive development of the original Consolidated Fleet primary trainer (Fleet 10), manufacture of which commenced in Canada by Fleet Aircraft in 1930. A total of 431 Finch trainers were built for the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) between 1939 and 1941. The aircraft had conventional construction for the period with a welded steel-tube fuselage and composite metal, wood and fabric design features. The RCAF acquired the aircraft type as an elementary trainer. The Fleet 16 first entered RCAF service with tandem open cockpits, but the severity of the Canadian winter necessitated the introduction of a sliding canopy at an early stage in the trainer's service career.

[edit] Operational history

The Finch was a mainstay of the RCAF prior to and during the early part of the Second World War, flying at the Elementary Flying Training Schools (EFTS) in parallel with the better known de Havilland Tiger Moth. The earlier Fleet Model 7 (Fleet Fawn) was also in use for primary training. During 1940, initial production problems were solved and timely deliveries were made to the RCAF, allowing the first training programs to start up. In the following year, the Portuguese Navy purchased ten Model 16Ds (ordered as 10Bs but changed to the higher powered variant) and later a further five 16Ds were delivered in 1942. [1]

A total of 447 Fleet Finches were produced as Model 16s, the majority for the RCAF. They were used as initial trainers in the BCATP at no fewer than 12 Elementary Flight Training Schools across Canada. Both the Fleet Finch and Tiger Moth were later replaced by the Fairchild PT-26 Cornell. The Finch was progressively phased out of service from October 1944 with the last of the Model 16s struck off strength from the RCAF inventory in 1947.

[edit] Variants

  • Model 16F: One prototype based on the Fleet Model 10; powered by a 175 hp Warner Super Scarab seven cylinder radial engine
  • Model 16R (Finch I): 27 built for RCAF; powered by 160 hp Kinner R5-2, five cylinder radial engine
  • Model 16B (Finch II): 404 built for the RCAF; powered by 130 hp (variously noted as 125 hp) Kinner B5-R, five cylinder radial engine
  • Model 16D : 15 built for the Portuguese Navy; powered by 160 hp Kinner B5-2, five cylinder radial engine

[edit] Specifications (Finch II)

Information based on Fleet: The Flying Years [2]

  • Manufacturer: Fleet Aircraft of Canada
  • Crew/Passengers: two pilots in tandem
  • Powerplant: one 125 hp Kinner B-5 five-cylinder radial piston engine
  • Dimensions
    • Length: 21 ft. 8 in (6.64 m)
    • Height: 7 ft. 9"in. (2.4 m)
    • Wing span: 28 ft (8.53 m)
    • Wing area: 194.4 sq. ft. (59.25 sq. m)
  • Weights
    • Empty weight: 1,222 lb (509 kg)
    • Maximum gross weight: 2,000 lb (908 kg)
  • Performance
    • Maximum speed: 104 mph (192.61 km/H)
    • Cruise speed: 85 statute mph (76 knots, 137 km/H)
    • Rate of climb: 435 ft/minute (132 m/minute)
    • Service ceiling: 10,500 ft (3,200 m)
    • Range: 300 statute miles (261 nautical miles, 483 km)
  • Armament: none

[edit] Operators

[edit] References

  1. ^ Page and Cumming 1990, p. 72.
  2. ^ Page and Cumming 1990, p. 72.
  • Molson, Ken M. and Taylor, Harold A. Canadian Aircraft Since 1909. Stittsville, Ontario: Canada's Wings, Inc., 1982. ISBN 0-920002-11-0.
  • Page, Ron D. and Cumming, William. Fleet: The Flying Years. Erin, Ontario: Boston Mills Press, 1990. ISBN 1-55046-019-6.

[edit] External links

[edit] See also

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