The Fairchild 91, (a.k.a. A-942), was a single-engine eight-passenger flying boat airliner developed in the United States in the mid-1930s.Taylor, Michael J.H. . ''Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation”. Studio Editions. London. 1989.

Design

Fairchild designed the aircraft in response to a

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

request for a small flying boat to operate on their river routes along the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

and

Yangtze The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...

. The result was a conventional high-wing cantilever monoplane with its radial engine mounted above the wing in a streamlined nacelle. Before construction of the prototype was complete, however, Pan American no longer required the aircraft to operate in China, and Fairchild optimised the design for the Brazilian tropics.

Operational history

After the first two aircraft were delivered, Pan American cancelled the remaining four aircraft of its order as they no longer needed any for China and the two aircraft were capable of handling the Amazon River. The sole A-942-B was specially built for the American Museum of Natural History and was used by naturalist

Richard Archbold Richard Archbold (April 9, 1907 – August 1, 1976) was an American zoologist and philanthropist. He was independently wealthy, being the grandson of the capitalist John Dustin Archbold. He was educated at private schools, and later attended cla ...

on his second expedition to

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

in 1936–1937. The prototype was sold to the Spanish Republican Air Force, but the ship carrying it was captured by the

Spanish Nationalists Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spai ...

and was used by them until 1941. The A-942 bought by industrialist

Garfield Wood Garfield Arthur "Gar" Wood (December 4, 1880 – June 19, 1971) was an American inventor, entrepreneur, and championship motorboat builder and racer who held the world water speed record on several occasions. He was the first man to travel ...

was sold to the British American Ambulance Corps before being transferred to the

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 ...

, who operated it in Egypt for air-sea rescue. One exampled was sold to the Imperial Japanese Naval Air Service for evaluation, but was wrecked shortly after delivery, so a second example was purchased to replace it.

Variants

;Fairchild 91 Baby Clipper :Initial version built to Pan Am specifications for use on rivers, powered by a Pratt & Whitney S2EG Hornet. Six built. ;Fairchild A-942-A :Alternative designation for the Fairchild 91 ;Fairchild 91B Jungle Clipper :Specially equipped for NYC Museum of Natural History, powered by a Wright SGR-1820F-52 Cyclone. One built, NR777. ;Fairchild A-942-B :Alternative designation for the Fairchild 91B. ;Fairchild XSOK-1 :Proposed U.S. Navy scout; none built. ;Fairchild LXF :Two A-942Bs supplied to the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service for evaluation.

Airframes

Specifications (A-942-A)

Fairchild_A-942_3-view_L'Aerophile_May_1936

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * *Taylor, Michael J.H. . ''Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation”. Studio Editions. London. 1989. *

{{Japanese Navy short aircraft designations 1930s United States airliners Flying boats 91 Single-engined tractor aircraft High-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1935