The Fleet Model 60K Fort was the only

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines. ...

designed and built by

Canadians Canadians (french: Canadiens) 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 ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and was also the first all-metal

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

built by Fleet Aircraft of Canada (

Fort Erie Fort Erie is a town on the Niagara River in the Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada. It is directly across the river from Buffalo, New York, and is the site of Old Fort Erie which played a prominent role in the War of 1812. Fort Erie is one o ...

). It was intended to be an intermediate trainer employed for pilot training between the de Havilland Tiger Moth primary trainer and the

North American North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Ca ...

Harvard advanced trainer. Although it served with the

British Commonwealth Air Training Plan The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), or Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS) often referred to as simply "The Plan", was a massive, joint military aircrew training program created by the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Z ...

, the Fort was redundant and was used to train wireless (radio) operators and had a relatively short operational career.

Design and development

The Fort was originally designed as an advanced flying trainer and in 1940 orders were placed for 200 to be built for the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. The Fleet 60 was designed as a monoplane with a low elliptical wing and a raised rear cockpit. An unusual feature was the fixed undercarriage. Although fixed, the undercarriage was fitted with a retractable fairing. This feature was intended to familiarize student pilots with an undercarriage retraction mechanism but without causing external damage by a forgetful student. Production was delayed, however, as the first

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) 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 environ ...

(RCAF) model was not flying until 18 April 1941. The availability of the

Fairchild Cornell Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach a ...

, and a change in what constituted an "advanced" trainer, led to the contract's being sharply cut back, and only 101 Forts were ultimately delivered to the RCAF between June 1941 and June 1942.

Operational history

Initially, the RCAF did not want to order the Model 60K, and their concerns proved valid. Pilot trainees found the Fort relatively easy to master, thereby making it unsuitable for transition to combat aircraft (e.g.,

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness b ...

). Also, the RCAF decided that pilots who had soloed in

Fleet Finch 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 ...

es and de Havilland Tiger Moths could proceed to Harvards without training on Forts. The Forts were then used to train wireless operators at No. 2 Wireless School,

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...

and No. 3 Wireless School,

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...

. Two models were built, one having a

Jacobs Jacobs may refer to: Businesses and organisations * Jacob's, a brand name for several lines of biscuits and crackers in Ireland and the UK * Jacobs (coffee), a brand of coffee *Jacobs Aircraft Engine Company, former American aircraft engine compa ...

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ...

and the other having a Jacobs. The more powerful engine gave the revised Fort a top speed of and the cruising speed . It then climbed at per minute and had a range of . Loaded weight was slightly increased to . The last Forts saw active service in 1944 and they were phased out of use by 1945; the last Model 60K was retired in 1946.

Variants

* Model 60 : Proposed advanced trainer version, powered by a Jacobs L-7 radial piston engine. Not built. * Model 60K : Two-seat intermediate training aircraft for the

RCAF The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) 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 environ ...

. RCAF designation Fort Mk I. ** Fort Mk II : All 101 production aircraft were converted into wireless training aircraft for the

* Model 60L : Proposed version, powered by a Jacobs L-4MB radial piston engine. Not built.

Specifications

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Holmes, Tony. ''Jane's Vintage Aircraft Recognition Guide''. London: Harper Collins, 2005. . * Molson, Ken M. and Taylor, Harold A. ''Canadian Aircraft Since 1909''. Stittsville, Ontario: Canada's Wings, Inc., 1982. . * Page, Ron D. and Cumming, William. ''Fleet: The Flying Years''. Erin, Ontario: Boston Mills Press, 1990. . {{Aircraft manufactured in Canada

Fort A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

Single-engined tractor aircraft Low-wing aircraft 1940s Canadian military trainer aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1940