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Great report, Tony.
Thanks!
Bill Johnson
From: fairchildclub@yahoogroups.com [mailto:
fairchildclub@yahoogroups.com]
Sent: Thursday, April 14, 2016 5:26 PM
To: fairchildclub@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [fairchildclub] RE: Fairchild M-62 prototype
Steve,
I am sure you are right in that there are three (at least) different stages/configurations in the development of the prototype. The timescale for each of these metamorphoses remains uncertain but the order you suggest is probably correct.
It has been suggested to me before that the the razorback version was only a mock-up - and yet we can see the engine is running, so this is more than the usual mock-up. There is a good side view probably taken at the same time as your
pic in Kent Mitchell's "Fairchild Aircraft 1926-1987". I have never seen a reliably dated photograph of this variant, or one of it in the air.
H.L. Puckett's "PT-19 - Cradle of Heroes" also has three photographs of what is described as the mock-up under construction. This appears very similar to the aircraft seen outside the hangar which suggests this is likely to be #1 configuration.
As no photographs of the "razorback" version in the air have so far come to light it seems likely that NX18689 was first flown in the coupe configuration.
I would like to suggest an earlier first flight date than May 15th. Richard A Henson was hired to test fly most of Fairchild products at this time and two of his logbooks survive in the NASM Archive, along with some other Fairchild documents.
They must be faded as they do not copy well. There are two entries for NX18689 dated 5-15-39. The first appears as part of his six month summary - there is another such summary of instructional flights in November 1939. Someone has added a note in the
margin which reads "5-15-39 First Flight M62*" The actual entry on that page records 25 hours 40 minutes flight time, which leads me to conclude this entry is actually a summary of the hours flown on test prior to May 15th.
The next page begins with an entry which reads "5-15-39; NX18689; Fairchild M62; Ranger; 2S; 3hrs 25 min; XC to Langley Field & Return". I think it is safe to assume this is the correct entry for that day - not the summary on the previous
page. A cross-country on the same day as the first flight seems rather unlikely.
The FAA file on NX18689 provides an interesting insight but could have been a lot more helpful. Various documents state a build date of March 1939 for NX18689. There is an Aircraft Inspection Report and an Application for Registration
dated 16 March, 1939. My exposure to FAA records is fairly limited but I have gained the impression that, typically, the above application dates are usually very close to the first flight date of a particular aircraft. The aircraft is described in these
March 1939 documents as a "2-PCLM"; i.e., 2 seat - cabin - land plane - monoplane. The engine at that stage was a 165hp 6-410B2-A.
Later certificates describe NX18689 as "2-POLM"; i.e., open cockpit, but there are no documents to indicate when this modication took place.
The first reliably dated photographs I have seen were taken at Wright Field on July 7, 1939 and show NX18689 with a coupe canopy, and a spatted and trousered u/c. The upper longerons appear to have been shortened giving an upward kink
to the rear fuselage - presumably to raise the tailplane.
Further trials took place in August at the Air Corps Training Detachment of the Chicago School of Aeronautics, Curtiss-Reynolds Field, Glenview. NX16868 was in competition with a PT-16 and a WACO UPF-7 and was also compared with standard
trainer at the school, the PT-13. A number of cadets from Course 40A received tuition on the three experimental types. It was following these trials and a confirmation that Fairchild could produce the number required in the time specified that the order for
270 was placed in September 1939.
A distant photograph exists of NX18689 on the taxiway at Glenview. The coupe canopy has been replaced by two windshields, the turn-over pylon has a fairing around it, there is a small headrest behind the rear cockpit and the tailplane
is braced.
NX18689 continued to be used for tests and demonstrations for some months. These included a trip to Canada in December 1939. Henson flew it for it the last time in February 1940, by which time production examples were available.
Finally an Aircraft Status Change document in the FAA files shows Fairchild 18689 cancelled 10.1.40 as "Airworthiness Certificate" expired.
I would welcome any evidence to add to the above.
Best wishes, Tony Broadhurst
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