Fairchild_PT-19.htm

Fairchild PT-19

The Fairchild PT-19 was a monoplane Primary Trainer with two inline open cockpits for an instructor and trainee. Per reference [8] it took its first flight on 15 May 1939 and entered active service with the US armed forces in 1940. Eventually over 7,700 of this type aircraft were built and it served as a primary trainer not only for the USAAC but also with the air forces of Canada, India, South Africa, South Rhodesia, Norway, Mexico, Ecuador, El Salvadore, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Uruguay, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Brazil, Chile, Haiti, and the Philipines.

The aircraft had fixed landing gear and made extensive use of wood in its low mounted wing. The PT-19 was fitted with an inline engine, but due to engine shortages during WWII a modified variant with a radial engine was built as the PT-23. In addition variants with the cockpits enclosed were built for Canada as the PT-26/26A/26B (also known as the Cornell I/II and III, respectively).

As shown in the images below distinguishing features of this aircraft including;

inline engine on the PT-19 & PT-26
radial engine on the PT-23
open inline cockpits for the instructor and trainee on the PT-19 & PT-23
enclosed inline two-person cockpit on the PT-26
low mounted wing

[Image Sources: US Government/Public Domain via Ref [8] - as annotated by this site]

[Source: Ref [14a] - US Government/Public Domain]

In order to try and better develop weight estimating relationships an effort has been made to estimate the length of the fuselage aft of the firewall, and the length of the engine section forward of the firewall based off scaled drawings. Together these two distances add to a term called the "structural length" and do not consider any portion of the engine or propeller shaft the extend foward of the fuselage/cowling, or any empennage that extends aft of the fuselage structure. The drawing below shows the current best estimate of these dimensions obtained from available drawings of the airplane and will be updated with any real world data that becomes available. For any aircraft with an inclined firewall, an attempt has been made to locate an approximate center of this location.

PT19-Dims

Source References [2] & [16]

In the above images, dimensions in Black come from the source material while dimesions in Red have been approximated from the data available.

The table below summarizes the current data collected on this type aircraft, identifying sources for the data

		PT-19	Secondary Sources	Notes
Primary Source		2
No of Crew		2
Engine:
Qty		1
Model		L-440-1
Displacement	(cu in)	440
Power
Military	(HP)
War Emergency	(HP)
Normal	(HP)
Take Off	(HP)	175
Eng Dims
Length	(ft)	4.43
Width/Dia	(ft)	1.83
Height	(ft)	2.79
Base Engine Wt	(lb)	376
Propeller
# Blades		2
Dia	(ft)	7.17
Manufacturer		Fixed
Type
Wing
Span	(ft)
Root Thickness	(%)
	(in)
Total Area	(sq ft)	200
Wing (less Ailerons & Flaps)	(sq ft)
Ailerons	(sq ft)
Flaps	(sq ft)
Tail Area	(sq ft)
V Tail Area	(sq ft)
Fin	(sq ft)
Rudder	(sq ft)
H Tail Area	(sq ft)
Stabilizer	(sq ft)
Elevator	(sq ft)
Total Control Surf Area	(sq ft)
Length
Overall	(ft)
Fuselage	(ft)	28
Body	(ft)
Body Depth	(ft)
Body Width	(ft)
Fuel Tank Volume	(gal)
Wing Tanks	(gal)
FuselageTanks	(gal)
Oil Tank Volume	(gal)
Water Injection Fluid Tank Volume	(gal)
Wetted Area (sqf)	(sq ft)
Pwr Ldng	(lb/HP)	13.77
Wing Ldng	(lb/sq ft)	12.05
Struct. Des. GW	(lb)	2450
Ultimate Load Factor	(G's)
Design Speed	(mph)	132
Not to Exceed Speed	(mph)

Total Struct Weight		1030
Total Wing		498
Wing
Ailerons
Flaps
Fuselage Carry-Through
Tail		79
H Tail		54
Stabilizer
Elevator
V Tail		25
Fin
Rudder
Body + Eng Section + LG
Body + LG		453
Body		302
Fuselage
Engine Section
Landing Gear		151
Mn Landing Gr		136
Tail/Nose Aux LG		15
Tail Hook
Booms
Nacelles
Total Propulsion Weight		535
Engine w/ Accessories		407
Engine(s) as Installed		377
Accessories		30
Turbocharger(s)
Controls		6
Propeller(s)		52
2-Blade		52
3-Blade
4-Blade
Starting System		18
Water Injection System
Tanks
Piping Etc
Cooling System
Lube System		9
Tanks
Piping Etc
Fuel System		43
Tanks
Piping Etc
Total Sys. & Eqpmt.		143
Instruments		14
Surface Controls		83
Hydraulics
Electrical Equip		2
Electronics (Purple means incl in Furn/Gray in Useful Ld)
Arm Prov/Equipment & Armor
Furnishings		44
Anti-Ice (If not in Furn)
Other /Misc
Hoisting Gear
Floatation Gear
Armor Plate

Empty Wt		1708
Basic Mission Useful Load		701
Crew		400
Equipment
Oil		31
Fuel		270
Fuel & Oil Trapped in Systems
Water Solution for Engine Injection
Bombs/Torp Etc
Radio (if Not Included in Empty Wt)
Nav Equipment
Oxygen System
Armament
Guns & Ammo
Guns
Ammo
Pyrotechnics
Camera
Other
Other Useful Load
Basic Mission GW		2409

Notes: This website has been developed with a number of low cost or free programs including Hot Metal Pro, KompoZer, MicroSoft Designer and Da Button Factory.com

Rev 4-12-26

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