Fairchild PT-19 Cornell

The PT-19, developed by Fairchild in 1938 to satisfy a military requirement for a rugged monoplane primary trainer, was ordered into quantity production in 1940. In addition to being manufactured by Fairchild during WW II, the "Cornell" was produced in the U.S. by the Aeronca, Howard and St. Louis Aircraft Corporations and in Canada by Fleet Aircraft, Ltd.

Some Cornells were powered by Continental radial engines and designated PT-23s, while others were produced with cockpit canopies and designated PT-26s. Altogether, 7,742 Cornells were manufactured for the AAF, with 4,889 of them being PT-19s. Additional Cornells were supplied to Canada, Norway, Brazil, Ecuador and Chile.

The Wing’s example of the M-62 (PT-19B) was one of 143 built by Aeronca at its Middletown, Ohio facility in 1942. Used as a primary trainer, hence the PT designation, the M-62 had a similar maximum speed, rate of climb and service ceiling comparable to the Boeing Stearman bi-plane primary trainer, except that the M-62 had 43% greater wing loading. This meant that the aircraft had to be thoughtfully flown and was not as forgiving as the bi-plane trainers it was to replace. This was thought to provide a more realistic training experience more closely resembling the modern fighters of the day.

Construction of the aircraft was fairly typical of its type and period, the cantilever monoplane wing mounted low on the fuselage being a conventional spar wooden structure with plywood skins. The ailerons comprised light alloy frames with fabric covering, and manually operated split type trailing edge flaps. Fuselage structure is of welded steel tube construction with mainly fabric covering, but the tail unit is all wood except for the metal frame fabric covered rudder and elevators. Landing gear is of the non-retractable tail wheel type. The powerplant of the initial PT-19 consisted of a 175 hp Ranger inverted air-cooled six-cylinder engine driving a two blade fixed pitch propeller. Our example has the 200 hp L-440-C3 powerplant. The two open cockpits accommodate the instructor and student, although equipped with dual controls the instrumentation is very basic.