Fairchild PT-19

The Fairchild PT-19, known to its maker as the Fairchild M-62, is an American monoplane primary trainer that served with the United States Army Air Forces, the Royal Air Force and the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. Designed by Fairchild Aircraft, it replaced the biplane trainers then in use with a low-wing aircraft whose handling better resembled front-line fighters. The prototype first flew on 15 May 1939, and the Army ordered 270 aircraft that September. The original PT-19 used an inline Ranger engine, the PT-23 a Continental radial and the PT-26, built in Canada as the Cornell, an enclosed cockpit. The wooden construction suffered from moisture, and rot in the plywood wings at hot, humid training bases led the Army to demand all-metal wings on later trainers.