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From: Miloch <Miloch_member@newsguy.com>
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Subject: Fleet Finch
Date: 25 May 2018 04:09:33 -0700
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fleet_Finch
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.
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. After a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF)
evaluation in 1938 recommended a number of changes, a total of 431 Finch
trainers were built for the 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, with Frise ailerons, a
flat-bottom airfoiled lifting tailplane and similarly "lifting airfoil" on the
vertical stabilizer, cambered into an airfoil on its starboard side only, to
offset the P-factor of the propeller's swirling slipstream. 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. The earlier Model 10's centre-hinged main landing gear
radius rods were retained for the Model 16 series, as these centre-hinged units
had replaced the "looped" left mainwheel's radius rod design that had been on
the even-earlier Fleet Models 1, 2 & 7 biplanes from their own origins in
November 1928.
Role
Trainer
Manufacturer
Fleet Aircraft
First flight
8 February 1939
Introduction
1939
Retired
1947
Status
Retired
Primary users
Royal Canadian Air Force
Portugal
Produced
1939- 1941
Number built
606
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, also produced in Canada.
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.
A total of 606 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.
Specifications (Finch II)
General characteristics
Crew: 2
Length: 21 ft 8 in (6.64 m)
Wingspan: 28 ft 0 in (8.53 m)
Height: 7 ft 9 in (2.36 m)
Wing area: 194.4 ft2 (18.05 m2)
Empty weight: 1,222 lb (509 kg)
Gross weight: 2,000 lb (908 kg)
Performance
Maximum speed: 104 mph (167 km/h)
Cruise speed: 85 mph (137 km/h)
Range: 300 miles (483 km)
Service ceiling: 10,500 ft (3,200 m)
Rate of climb: 435 ft/min (2 m/s)
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