Fairchild Club Forum

The attached pics are of an ex-Cornell Ranger in a museum store in Uruguay.
Does anyone recognize the mechanism - perhaps Hartzell?
I understand some Grumman G-44 Widgeons have v-p props, is this anything like the the arrangement seen in these pics?

Yes, that is the "Jack Plate" and "diaphragm" for the "Hyro-Seletive" prop drive for the Hartzell propeller system. Are you thinking about buying it, and if so, what will you put it on?

Mike

Hello czar35,
Thank you for posting your photo and for your reply last August. I do not know how I missed seeing your message earlier and I must apologize for my delay in replying.

Which Model 24 is this? Very smart colour scheme.

Thank you the confirmation on Hartzell. Old company adverts I found on the Internet showed that the components were similar. However none of the photographs sent to me from Uruguay showed any of the parts stamped or embossed with the title “Hartzell” as were those in the Hartzell pics I found on-line. Hence my question.

Between 1944 and 1946 Uruguay received quite a number of Fairchild PT-19s, PT-23s and PT-26s. Some remains and parts of a few of these are held in the museum store. In the course of correspondence between myself in the UK and one of the museum volunteers in Montevideo we endeavored to identify these derelict airframes. The photographs I posted were some of those I received from the volunteer.

This particular derelict PT-26 fuselage and its engine was donated to the museum some time ago and were previously owned by a private individual in Uruguay but is not thought to have ever been registered by him. Nor is there any evidence of whether the aircraft was flown with this v/p modification. By the time the museum acquired the fuselage it had lost all its data plates and therefore we have no positive identity for it. The engine has a plate with a Ranger serial number which links it to one of the fifty ex RCAF Cornells that Uruguay purchased in 1946 but this engine may be a later replacement.

The museum has a representative Fuerza Aerea Uruguaya PT-19A on display. An earlier exhibit was lost in a serious museum fire, twenty-five years ago and the current exhibit was built up from a Fleet-built PT-26A – one of those purchased from Canada in 1946.

My interest only is in it’s history and I have no interest in buying the engine and I do not expect the museum would it be interested in selling it. It may well become another of the museum’s static exhibits. My understanding from another Fairchild Club member is that getting these units overhauled now presents many problems. The volunteer was naturally intrigued by the modification and and its provenance. Thank you for helping helped to answer one of his queries.

All the best, Tony Broadhurst