The Pitcairn PA-4 Fleetwing II, also called the Pitcairn Fleetwing DeLuxe, and the Pitcairn PA-4 Fleetwing is a commercial mail hauling and passenger

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

Design and development

Ten PA-4s were built before it was re-engined with the

Wright J-5 The Wright R-790 Whirlwind was a series of nine-cylinder air-cooled radial aircraft engines built by Wright Aeronautical Corporation, with a total displacement of about and around . These engines were the earliest members of the Wright Whirlwin ...

Whirlwind as the Pitcairn PA-5 to fly on the CAM-19 mail routes. The Fleetwing II is a

conventional landing gear Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Ter ...

equipped biplane with strut-braced tail surfaces. The

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...

is welded steel-tube construction with aircraft fabric covering. The cowling is formed from two pieces. The wire wheels were streamlined with laced-on discs.

Operational history

Six Fleetwings were sold directly to Pitcairn Aviation. In 1928, the Fleetwing II ''The City of Reading'' participated in the Transcontinental Air Race. It was sold to Reading Airways after the race and later used in stunt flying around

Cumberland, Maryland Cumberland is a U.S. city in and the county seat of Allegany County, Maryland. It is the primary city of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 19,076. Located on the Potomac River, ...

with the signature "Flying through a train tunnel" illusion. The sole remaining Fleetwing II was rebuilt over the course of seven years by Harold Armstrong from drawings supplied by Steve Pitcairn (1925-2008), son of company founder Harold Frederick Pitcairn (1897-1960). The aircraft won Grand Champion Antique at the 1991

EAA AirVenture Oshkosh EAA AirVenture Oshkosh (formerly the EAA Annual Convention and Fly-In), or just Oshkosh, is an annual air show and gathering of aviation enthusiasts held each summer at Wittman Regional Airport and adjacent Pioneer Airport in Oshkosh, Wiscons ...

airshow. Armstrong's Fleetwing was seriously damaged in an accident on September 9, 2012.

Specifications (Fleetwing II)

References

Citations

Bibliography

External links

{{Pitcairn aircraft Pitcairn aircraft Biplanes Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1927