Fairchild 24

The Fairchild 24, also called the Model 24, is an American four-seat, single-engine monoplane light utility aircraft designed by the Fairchild Aviation Corporation and first flown in 1932. It grew out of the two-seat Fairchild 22 and reached production as a rugged, roomy cabin aircraft that borrowed automotive parts such as expansion-shoe brakes and roll-down windows to keep it affordable and easy to maintain. The type stayed in production from 1932 to 1948 with only modest changes to its airframe, and more than 2,230 were built, including about 280 by the Texas Engineering and Manufacturing Company after the war. Military versions served as the UC-61 Forwarder with the United States Army Air Forces and, under Lend-Lease, as the Argus with the Royal Air Force, where most flew with the Air Transport Auxiliary ferrying pilots.