| Fairchild PT-26 FH950 (N75463)
was built at Hagerstown, Maryland, under the Lend-Lease Act of 1940. It was received by
the US Army Air Force (USAAF) on January 30, 1943 and transferred to the Royal Canadian
Air Force (RCAF) at Toronto, Ontario, on February 9, 1943. RCAF records indicate that
FH950 was in service at No. 34 Elementary Flying Training School in Assiniboia,
Saskatchewan from February 10, 1943 to July 7, 1944. While there, the Cornell amassed a
little over 1566 hours of flight time. While the aircraft was in RCAF service, it was
modified by adding two identification lights, one along the top of the fuselage aft of the
canopy, and one on the bottom of the fuselage. These lights were activated by means of two
or more Morse code keys, one in each cockpit. The lights could be operated in either
"code" mode or a steady-on position. (All Cornells built by Fleet Aircraft in
Ontario already had this equipment installed at the factory. On July 22, 1944, FH950 was put into Stored Reserve at #3 Training Command,
and remained there until August 1, 1946, when it was transferred to the Office of Foreign
Liquidation Commission and ferried to Niagara Falls, New York. While there, it was
brokered by the M.C. McCabe Company, and the first civilian owner was a Mr. Gordon Gormley
of Tyler, Texas. Over the years, the aircraft passed through the hands of a number of
owners, and when it was acquired by its present owners, Joe and Mark Denest, of West
Chester, Pennsylvania, USA, it was in a fairly dilapidated condition. Restoration began
shortly after this, and took approximately five years. |
