Fairchild 71 / Super 71 / F-1 / C-8 / XJ2Q-1 / R2Q-1

Basically an updated version of the Fairchild FC-2W2, the Fairchild 71 incorporated many improvements that resulted from experience with the FC-2 and its variants. Providing seating for a pilot and six passengers, it was powered by a 313kW Pratt & Whitney Wasp 9-cylinder radial engine. First flown in 1929, the Fairchild 71 was built in small numbers from 1929 until 1930, when it was replaced in production by the Fairchild 71A. This differed primarily by having a few degrees of sweepback on the wings, and it introduced a number of refinements to the interior. All Fairchild 71s are of mixed construction with wooden wings and steel-tube fuselage structures.

Though civil operators acquired most of the Fairchild 71s and 71As, the US Army acquired one for evaluation as a light transport under the designation XC-8; dedicated later for photographic work it was redesignated XF-1. Eight service-test aircraft were ordered under the designation YF-1, and all nine were later redesignated C-8.

Six production Fairchild 71As were then bought by the US Army with the designation F-1A, later redesignated C-8A The US Navy also acquired a single example for service test under the designation XJ2Q-1, later redesignated R2Q-1.

In 1930 a Canadian branch of the company was established at Longueuil, Quebec, as Fairchild Aircraft Ltd. In addition to providing support for approximately 70 Fairchild aircraft operating in Canada, it began producing the Fairchild 71 for the Canadian Department of National Defence. These aircraft differed from standard by the removal of the features introduced for passenger comfort and were equipped specifically for aerial photography. A commercial Fairchild 71-C was built and marketed later and was available also as the Fairchild 71-CM with a metal-skinned fuselage.

The model 71 could be readily fitted with floats, skis or wheels. Its standard range was between 750 and 800 nautical miles, depending on whether it was on floats or skis/wheels. Twenty one model 71s were built.

In the mid-1930s Kreider-Reisner built the Fairchild 22 two-seat open-cockpit monoplane and the Fairchild 24 cabin type, also producing the Fairchild 71 amphibian.

With a view to meeting Canadian requirements for a freight carrier of greater capacity than the standard Fairchild 71, the Fairchild Super 71 floatplane was developed in 1934. Of slightly greater span, it had also a longer and entirely new oval-section fuselage of light alloy construction. The pilot was given a cockpit on the upper surface of the fuselage, to the rear of the 13-foot cabin, with a somewhat restricted forward view between the top of the fuselage and the undersurface of the wing. The cabin could accommodate eight passengers, but the seats were easily removable to create an uncluttered cargo space. Large cargo doors were inset in the port side of the cabin and a passenger door to starboard, the entire accommodation being heated and ventilated. Power was provided by a Pratt & Whitney Wasp radial engine enclosed completely in a low-drag cowling.

In 1936, the Royal Canadian Air Force bought two the two Super 71Ps - a modified version fitted with a forward mounted cockpit - for use as photo-survey aircraft. They did not prove successful. One of them was destroyed in August 1937, and the second machine was struck off strength in April 1940.

Fairchild 71

Gallery

Super 71
Engine: 1 x Pratt & Whitney Wasp, 388kW
Max take-off weight: 3175 kg / 7000 lb
Empty weight: 1544 kg / 3404 lb
Wingspan: 17.68 m / 58 ft 0 in
Wing area: 36.24 sq.m / 390.08 sq ft
Max. speed: 249 km/h / 155 mph
Cruise speed: 209 km/h / 130 mph
Range: 1314 km / 817 miles