Fairchild 45-80 Sekani
The Fairchild 45-80 Sekani (named for an indigenous people of Canada) was a Canadian twin-engined transport aircraft developed in Canada in the late 1930s. Although the 45-80 was the largest bush plane developed by Fairchild, its poor performance doomed the project, and nearly the company.[1]
Design and development
Designed by
Testing commenced in August 1937 and revealed a number of serious deficiencies in the design, including that the aircraft was overweight and impossible to control directionally when flying on only one engine as the ailerons caused severe drag tending to turn the aircraft in the opposite direction.[1]
Operational history
The RCAF tested the 45-80 in October 1937, investigating its potential as a photographic platform, but ultimately rejecting it. Canadian Airways tests showed that the new design had a payload capacity no greater than the single-engine types that they were already operating. A second prototype was built, but the whole project was soon abandoned with the completed prototypes along with three unassembled production examples being scrapped.[1]
Fairchild recovered from the financial disaster that was looming after the Sekani's cancellation when the company landed a lucrative contract to build Bristol Bolingbroke bombers as part of the shadow factory system that was set up to supply RAF needs.
Specifications
Data from Canadian Aircraft Since 1909 [4]
General characteristics
- Crew: Two pilots
- Capacity: 12 passengers
- Length: 11.94 m (39 ft 2 in)
- Wingspan: 17.27 m (57 ft 0 in)
- Height: 3.63 m (11 ft 11 in)
- Wing area: 54.3 m2 (584.5 sq ft)
- Empty weight: 3,223 kg (7,100 lb)
- Gross weight: 4,313 kg (9,500 lb)
- Powerplant: 2 × Pratt & Whitney Wasp Junior, 300 kW (400 hp) each
Performance
- Maximum speed: 308.9 km/h (192 mph, 167 kn)
- Cruise speed: 275.1 km/h (171 mph, 149 kn)
- Service ceiling: 4,572 m (15,000 ft)
- Rate of climb: 6.0 m/s (1,180 ft/min)
References
Notes
Bibliography
- "Canadian Convertible." Flight, 29 April 1937, p. 427. Retrieved: 9 March 2008.
- ISBN 0-07-082778-8.
- Molson, Ken M. and Taylor, Harold A. Canadian Aircraft Since 1909. Stittsville, Ontario: Canada's Wings, Inc., 1982. ISBN 0-920002-11-0.
- Stroud, Nick (January 2013). "Sekani". The Aviation Historian (2): 58–63. ISSN 2051-1930.
- Taylor, Michael J.H. Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions, 1989, p. 354.