The Fairchild 45-80 Sekani (named for an indigenous people of Canada) was a Canadian twin-engined transport aircraft developed in Canada in the late 1930s. Although the 45-80 was the largest

bush plane A bush airplane 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 ra ...

developed by Fairchild, its poor performance doomed the project, and nearly the company.

Design and development

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 environm ...

and

Canadian Airways Canadian Airways Limited was a Canadian regional passenger and freight air service based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It was founded by James Armstrong Richardson Sr. in 1926 as Western Canada Airways (WCA), was fully established in 1930 following ...

,the 45-80 was an ambitious project, being the largest design yet attempted. The Sekani was a large sesquiplane of conventional configuration, with the sets of wings joined to the top and bottom of the fuselage and braced by N-struts. The lower set of wings were little more than stubs; their bracing to the upper wings passed through the engine nacelles (mounted on the upper wings), and they carried the pontoon undercarriage beneath them. Following typical Fairchild construction, the fuselage and empennage were made of fabric-covered welded steel tubing while the main wings were a combination of spruce spars and stainless steel ribs, also fabric covered. The "stub" wings were of heavy steel construction. The retractable undercarriage (a first for a Canadian designed aircraft) also featured streamlined fairings when the aircraft was equipped with skis.Molson and Taylor 1982, p. 324–325. Testing commenced in August 1937 and revealed a number of serious deficiencies in the design, including that the aircraft was overweight and impossible to control directionally when flying on only one engine as the ailerons caused severe drag tending to turn the aircraft in the opposite direction.Molson and Taylor 1982, p. 325.

Operational history

The RCAF tested the 45-80 in October 1937, investigating its potential as a photographic platform, but ultimately rejecting it. Canadian Airways tests showed that the new design had a payload capacity no greater than the single-engine types that they were already operating. A second prototype was built, but the whole project was soon abandoned with the completed prototypes along with three unassembled production examples being scrapped. Fairchild recovered from the financial disaster that was looming after the Sekani's cancellation when the company landed a lucrative contract to build

Bristol Bolingbroke The Bristol Fairchild Bolingbroke is a maritime patrol aircraft and trainer used by the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War. Built by Fairchild-Canada, it was a license-built version of the Bristol Blenheim Mk IV bomber. De ...

bombers as part of the shadow factory system that was set up to supply

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

needs.

Specifications

References

Notes

Bibliography

"Canadian Convertible."

Flight Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can be a ...

, 29 April 1937, p. 427. Retrieved: 9 March 2008. * 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. . * Taylor, Michael J.H. ''Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation''. London: Studio Editions, 1989, p. 354.

External links

Fairchild 45-80 Sekani (CF-BHD c/n 101)680 Fairchild 45-80 Sekani, FliegerWeb.com, in German but a lot of technical data and pictures
{{Aircraft manufactured in Canada 1930s Canadian airliners 45-80 Sesquiplanes Floatplanes Aircraft first flown in 1937 Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft