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.
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. 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.[1] The aircraft had conventional construction for the period with a welded steel-tube
fuselage having Warren truss structure for its sides; and composite metal, wood and fabric design features, with
Frise ailerons, a flat-bottom airfoiled, variable incidence (trimmable) lifting two-piece tailplane; and similarly "lifting airfoil" on the
fixed vertical stabilizer, cambered into an airfoil on its port 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.[citation needed]
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, 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.[2]
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.
Variants
Model 10
Model was an improved Fleet 7 with a deeper rear fuselage from its nearly-level height dorsal turtledeck in side-view, a new two-piece horizontal tail/elevator and a better cockpit.
Model 10A
Model powered by 100 hp (75 kW)
Kinner K-5 five-cylinder radial engine
Model powered by 160 hp (120 kW)
Kinner R-5, five cylinder radial engine
Model 10-32D
32-foot-long span wing for high altitude operations in Mexico. Powered by 175 hp (130 kW) Kinner R5, five cylinder radial engine
Model 10E
Model powered by 145 hp (108 kW)
Warner Super Scarab seven cylinder radial engine
Model 10F
Model powered by 145 hp (108 kW) Warner Super Scarab seven cylinder radial engine
Model 10G
Model powered by 90 hp (67 kW)
Wright-Gypsy or 130 hp (97 kW)
Gypsy Major inline engine, built under license in
Romania at
IAR,
SET &
ICAR factories, also used in Portugal.
Model 10H
Model 150 hp (112 kW) supercharged
Menasco C-4S Inline
Model 16F
One prototype based on the Fleet Model 10; powered by a 175 hp (130 kW) Warner Super Scarab seven cylinder radial engine
Model 16R (Finch I)
27 built for RCAF; powered by 160 hp (120 kW) Kinner R5-2, five cylinder radial engine
Model 16B (Finch II)
404 built for the RCAF; powered by 130 hp (97 kW) (variously noted as 125 hp (93 kW)) Kinner B5-R, five cylinder radial engine
Model 16D
15 built for the Portuguese Navy; powered by 160 hp (120 kW) Kinner B5-2, five cylinder radial engine
registration N666J, serial 350, one of two Finches based at the
Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome in
New York State since at least 1970, with at least three different color schemes in its four decades-plus of flying in Old Rhinebeck's weekend airshows. Since suffering a crash landing in 2016, the aircraft is awaiting a rebuild.[3]