The Fairchild 71 was an American high-wing monoplane

passenger A passenger is a person who travels in a vehicle, but does not bear any responsibility for the tasks required for that vehicle to arrive at its destination or otherwise operate the vehicle, and is not a steward. The vehicles may be bicycles, ...

and

cargo aircraft A cargo aircraft (also known as freight aircraft, freighter, airlifter or cargo jet) is a fixed-wing aircraft that is designed or converted for the carriage of cargo rather than passengers. Such aircraft generally feature one or more large door ...

built by

Fairchild Aircraft Fairchild was an American aircraft and aerospace manufacturing company based at various times in Farmingdale, New York; Hagerstown, Maryland; and San Antonio, Texas. History Early aircraft The company was founded by Sherman Fairchild in 19 ...

and later built in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Fairchild Aircraft Ltd. (Canada) Fairchild Aircraft Ltd. was an aircraft manufacturer active at Longueuil, Quebec, Canada in the period 1920–50. It served as a subsidiary of the Fairchild Aircraft company of the United States. History Origin Fairchild Aircraft Ltd. came a ...

for both military and civilian use as a rugged

bush plane A bush plane is a general aviation aircraft used to provide both scheduled and unscheduled passenger and flight services to remote, undeveloped areas, such as the Canadian north or bush, Alaskan tundra, the African bush, or savanna, Amazon rainf ...

Design and development

The Fairchild Aircraft Company undertook a progressive development of the Fairchild FC-2W2 light transport. Its first improvement was the FC-2, whose several improvements included slightly swept-back wings; wingspan increased to 50 feet; engine power nearly doubled; and interior changes to improve passenger comfort. The FC-2 first flew in 1926. The FC-2W was a further development, featuring: *Camera bay for vertical aerial photography; *Low-cut aft windows for oblique aerial photography. The FC-2 and FC-2W continued the use of fabric-covered welded steel tubing for

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French language, French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds Aircrew, crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an Aircraft engine, engine as wel ...

and

empennage The empennage ( or ), also known as the tail or tail assembly, is a structure at the rear of an aircraft that provides stability during flight, in a way similar to the feathers on an arrow.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third ed ...

construction, and strut-braced wooden-structure fabric-covered wings. The FC-2W, later known as the Model 71, was built in the United States between 1928 and 1930. In 1929 Fairchild formed a company in Canada (Fairchild Aircraft Limited) at

Longueuil Longueuil () is a city in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of the Montérégie, Montérégie administrative region and the central city of the urban agglomeration of Longueuil. It sits on the South Shore (Montreal), south shore o ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

in 1929 to support the

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

operators of Fairchild aircraft. The Canadian company also set up a factory production line for the Model 71, developing a variant for the Canadian military. The Canadian-built aircraft differed from the US version in that all the passenger-comfort features were removed, and the craft were built specifically for aerial photography. 1928 Fairchild 71

Operational history

The

United States Army Air Service The United States Army Air Service (USAAS)Craven and Cate Vol. 1, p. 9 (also known as the ''"Air Service"'', ''"U.S. Air Service"'' and before its legislative establishment in 1920, the ''"Air Service, United States Army"'') was the aerial warf ...

acquired one Model 71 for evaluation; it was designated XC-8, later redesignated XF-1 and used for photographic work. Eight more service-test aircraft, designated YF-1 were ordered; all nine were later redesignated C-8. The

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Can ...

(RCAF), another major military operator, evaluated the Fairchild 71 in mid-June 1930. Thirty four RCAF F-71s were operated from 1930 to 1946. Along with the earlier FC-2 series, the RCAF F-71 was utilized primarily in the aerial photographic survey role as well as northern transport. In November 1934, the RCAF transferred the FC-71s to the five detachments flying in the amalgamated

Maritimes The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes had a population of 1,899,324 in 2021, which makes up 5.1% of ...

No. 5 (Flying Boat) Squadron at RCAF Station Dartmouth. The squadron flew the FC-71 extensively on anti-smuggling (

rum running Rum-running, or bootlegging, is the illegal business of smuggling alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law. The term ''rum-running'' is more commonly applied to smuggling over water; ''bootlegging'' is applied to smuggl ...

) and illegal immigration patrols for the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...

(RCMP). Most of the Model 71 production ended up in the hands of bush plane operators in Canada and the United States. Civilian operators likewise found the 71 a rugged, reliable and highly useful utility transport, well suited for northern and remote operations.

Variants

;Fairchild 71 :Initial production variant ;Fairchild 71A :Production variant with increased sweep on wings and improved interior ;Fairchild 71C :Canadian-built version ;Fairchild 71-CM :Canadian-built version with metal-skinned fuselage ;

Fairchild Super 71 The Fairchild Super 71 was a Canadian parasol-mounted high-wing monoplane cargo aircraft built by Fairchild Aircraft Ltd. (Canada). The Super 71 was an entirely new design that was one of the first purpose-built civilian bush planes for use in re ...

:Floatplane version with new fuselage and greater wingspan ;Fairchild 51/71 :Canadian-built version with wings of Model 51 and fuselage of Model 71

United States military designations

;XC-8 :One prototype Fairchild 71, later redesignated XF-1 when modified for photo survey. ;XF-1 :XC-8 redesignated for photo-survey ;YF-1 :Eight Fairchild 71 aircraft for evaluation with provision for seven passenger seats, later redesignated C-8. ;F-1A :Production aircraft (Fairchild 71A), six built later redesignated C-8A. ;C-8 :YF-1 redesignated ;C-8A :F-1A redesignated ;J2Q-1 :One Fairchild 71 for evaluation by the United States Navy, redesignated XR2Q-1.

Operators

Civilian Operators

; * Aerovias Centrales * Compañía Mexicana de Aviación ; * Clifford Ball Inc. *

Pacific Alaska Airways Pacific Alaska Airways was a subsidiary of Pan American World Airways that flew routes around Alaska. The airline was eventually completely absorbed into Pan Am in 1941. History Pacific Alaska Airways was established as ACA Aviation Corporation ...

Pan American Airways Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and more commonly known as Pan Am, was an airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States for ...

Pan American-Grace Airways Pan American-Grace Airways, also known as Panagra, and dubbed "The World's Friendliest Airline" was an airline formed as a joint venture between Pan American World Airways and Grace Shipping Company. On September 13, 1928, a small single-engine F ...

* California-Arabian Standard Oil Co.

Military operators

; *

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

Specifications (Model 71C)

Fairchild_71_3-view_Aero_Digest_February_1929

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Donald, David, ed. ''The Encyclopedia of World Aircraft''. Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada: Prospero Books, 1997. . * Milberry, Larry. ''Aviation In Canada''. Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd., 1979. . * Molson, Ken M. and Taylor, Harold A. ''Canadian Aircraft Since 1909''. Stittsville, Ontario: Canada's Wings, Inc., 1982. .

External links

RCAF.com: The Aircraft: Fairchild 71

{{USN utility aircraft 1920s United States civil utility aircraft 71 High-wing aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1926 Aircraft with fixed conventional landing gear 71