The Fairchild Super 71 was a Canadian parasol-mounted high-wing monoplane

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 air cargo, cargo rather than passenger aircraft, passengers. Such aircraft usually ...

built by Fairchild Aircraft Ltd. (Canada). The Super 71 was an entirely new design that was one of the first purpose-built civilian

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 ...

s for use in remote and northern locales in Canada.Molson and Taylor 1982, p. 316. Fairchild Super 71 CF-AUJ

Design and development

In 1933, the Fairchild Aircraft Company undertook a study of new designs based on their Model 71. A decision to mount a parasol wing above the fuselage coupled with a rear cockpit position, clearly distinguished this model from the rest of the Fairchild 71 series, although the company designation maintained the family lineage. The choice of the unusual cockpit was predicated on the need to have a large front cargo compartment as well as considering the load distribution in normal operation. In use, pilots found that forward vision was compromised to such an extent that few operators favoured the installation and when the

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 ...

ordered the type, the specifications included a new cockpit position ahead of the wing and immediately behind the engine.RCAF.com: The Aircraft: Fairchild Super 71
/ref> The design featured a first-of-its-kind (for Canada)

duralumin Duralumin (also called duraluminum, duraluminium, duralum, dural(l)ium, or dural) is a trade name for one of the earliest types of age-hardenable aluminium alloys. The term is a combination of '' Dürener'' and ''aluminium''. Its use as a tra ...

monocoque Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell". First used for boats, ...

fuselage with a streamlined oval shape and strut-braced metal wing and tail surfaces. Wind-tunnel testing not only was used to model the fuselage shape but influenced the placement of the

tailplane A tailplane, also known as a horizontal stabiliser, is a small lifting surface located on the tail (empennage) behind the main lifting surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft as well as other non-fixed-wing aircraft such as helicopters and gyroplane ...

which was altered from its original

T-tail A T-tail is an empennage configuration in which the tailplane is mounted to the top of the fin. The arrangement looks like the capital letter T, hence the name. The T-tail differs from the standard configuration in which the tailplane is ...

position to a high-mounted tailplane intended to keep the tailplane out of the water spray on takeoff. Engine choices varied with six different powerplants offered: the

Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar The Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar was an aircraft engine developed by Armstrong Siddeley. The Jaguar was a petrol-fuelled air-cooled 14-cylinder two-row radial engine design. The Jaguar III was first used in 1923, followed in 1925 by the Jaguar ...

, Pratt & Whitney T1D1 Wasp, Pratt & Whitney S1D1 Wasp, Pratt & Whitney SD-1 Hornet, Wright SR-1820-F-41 Cyclone and Wright SR-1820-F-42 Cyclone.Molson and Taylor 1982, p. 317. Fairchild Super71P

Operational history

Equipped with floats and powered by the S1D1 Wasp, the Super 71 prototype, ''CF-AUJ'', flew for the first time on 31 October 1934. After the aircraft completed airworthiness tests. it was loaned to

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 ...

which conducted operational trials in both Quebec and Ontario before the aircraft was written off after running into a submerged log and sinking off

Sioux Lookout, Ontario Sioux Lookout is a town in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. Located approximately northwest of Thunder Bay, it has a population of 5,272 people (up 4.7% since 2011), an elevation of , and its boundaries cover an area of , of which is lake and wetla ...

on 3 October 1940. Although the airframe was salvaged, Fairchild did not replace the aircraft with a completed Super 71 still at the factory, as the company was involved in a complete redesign based on the Super 71P (for photographic) variant that had been developed for the RCAF. A new wing mount and the change to a front cockpit were the two visible changes but the variant also had provision for multiple cameras and additional radio equipment. Two examples were built and placed in service in 1936.Milberry 1979, p. 110. The 71P had a chequered history as the type performed poorly in its aerial survey role with No. 666 crashing on 6 August 1937. The list of problems included structural problems with the floats, engine overheating (the prototype had the bottom half of the

cowling A cowling is the removable covering of a vehicle's engine, most often found on automobiles, motorcycles, airplanes, and on outboard boat motors. On airplanes, cowlings are used to reduce drag and to cool the engine. On boats, cowlings are a cove ...

removed to aid air circulation), adverse handling on the water and on the ground, and problems with the brakes. The remaining aircraft, No. 665, was assigned to

RCAF Station Trenton Canadian Forces Base Trenton (also CFB Trenton), formerly RCAF Station Trenton, is a Canadian Forces base located within the city of Quinte West, Ontario. It is operated as an air force base by the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and is the hu ...

as an air ambulance but was not used extensively in this role. Fairchild Super 71

The only surviving airframe is the prototype presently on display at the

Western Canada Aviation Museum The Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada (formerly the Western Canada Aviation Museum) is a museum in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The museum opened to the public in its new location on 21 May 2022. History The Western Canada Aviation Museum w ...

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 749,6 ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

Variants

;Fairchild Super 71 :Prototype (second airframe completed but not flown) ;Fairchild Super 71P :Production series with new cockpit location on the fuselage and new wing mounting (2 built)

Operators

; *

Specifications (Super 71)

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Bourgeois-Doyle, Richard I. ''Her Daughter the Engineer: The Life of Elsie Gregory MacGill''. Ottawa: NRC Research Press, 2008. . * 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 Harold A. Taylor. ''Canadian Aircraft Since 1909''. Stittsville, Ontario: Canada's Wings, Inc., 1982. .

External links

RCAF.com: The Aircraft: Fairchild Super 71
{{Aircraft manufactured in Canada 1930s Canadian cargo aircraft 71 High-wing aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1934