Fairchild Cornell FH651 (42-14299) the first production Cornell Mk.I seen here likely flying near Fairchild's factory in Hagerstown, MD. The Cornell was the Canadian variant of the US Army Air Forces' PT-26. While FH651 was retained in the USA for evaluation at Wright Field, most of the remaining Cornells produced at Fairchild's factory in Hagerstown, Maryland saw service in the Royal Canadian Air Force during WWII. Volunteers at the Military Aviation Museum have just begun restoring one of these former RCAF Cornells. (Fairchild Factory image via NARA)
Fairchild Cornell FH651 (42-14299) the first production Cornell Mk.I seen here likely flying near Fairchild's factory in Hagerstown, MD. The Cornell was the Canadian variant of the US Army Air Forces' PT-26. While FH651 was retained in the USA for evaluation at Wright Field, most of the remaining Cornells produced at Fairchild's factory in Hagerstown, Maryland saw service in the Royal Canadian Air Force during WWII. Volunteers at the Military Aviation Museum have just begun restoring one of these former RCAF Cornells. (Fairchild Factory image via NARA)

Our Volunteers:

The Military Aviation Museum is proud to have grown a healthy contingent of active volunteers since its founding. Without their dedicated, longstanding support, we could not function nearly as effectively as we do. Indeed, volunteers are the backbone of our organization and involved in almost every aspect of its operation, from serving as docents providing visitors with a wealth of additional information about our exhibits, to helping organize and run events, and even assisting with maintaining the grounds and facilities. We also have volunteers who bring specialized mechanical knowledge and skills with them, skills which some of them applied to the restoration of our Link C-3 Flight Trainer. Over a three-year period, this talented team turned what was once a disheveled, non-functional basket case of a project into a fully operational Flight Trainer.

Some of the key volunteers who helped restore the Military Aviation Museum's Link C-3 Flight Trainer are seen here posed in front of the Operator's Desk. From left to right, these men are 'Red' Calkin, Dennis Evans (project lead), Mike Falvey, David Rathmann, Tom Slate, and Mark Freeman. The have now begun working on the Museum's Fairchild Cornell Mk.I. (image by Mark Freeman)
Some of the key volunteers who helped restore the Military Aviation Museum's Link C-3 Flight Trainer are seen here posed in front of the Operator's Desk. From left to right, these men are 'Red' Calkin, Dennis Evans (project lead), Mike Falvey, David Rathmann, Tom Slate, and Mark Freeman. The have now begun working on the Museum's Fairchild Cornell Mk.I. (image by Mark Freeman)

With their work on the Link completed now, the team has turned its attention towards an even larger endeavor, returning our Fairchild Cornell Mk.I to flying condition. While this is obviously a more ambitious project than the Flight Trainer, many of the same skills our volunteers used and developed during that experience will apply here equally well. This will be a down-to-the-last-bolt project, the first of its kind attempted at our museum. In many respects, the Cornell is the perfect airframe for our volunteers to begin with, being of such straightforward construction and without any complex systems or electrical circuits to contend with. Furthermore, the airframe is essentially complete, and in good overall condition; it last flew circa 2015. To ensure that this project proceeds ‘by the book’, our volunteers are being guided and closely supervised by appropriately licensed mechanics at all times; members of our highly-trained, professional aircraft maintenance team at the Fighter Factory overseeing and being a part of this process. Some aspects, such as the engine and propeller, may be handled by outside contractors.

The restoration team's volunteers getting to work on the Museum's Fairchild Cornell Mk.I EW444. (image by David Rathman)

Cornell Mk.I EW444

The Cornell our restoration team is refurbishing served with the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) as serial number EW444 during WWII. Built to satisfy a US Army Air Forces contract as PT-26-FA 44-19392 (for the Royal Air Force under the Lend Lease program), it rolled off Fairchild’s Hagerstown, Maryland assembly line as construction number T43-4503 circa January 1944. The RCAF formally accepted EW444 on January 31, 1944, the airframe immediately going into stored reserve - initially with No.4 Training Command, based in Calgary, Alberta, and then with No.2 Air Training Command (December 1, 1944). It wasn’t until July 10th, 1945 that our Cornell finally became operational, with No.23 Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS) at RCAF Station Yorkton in Yorkton, Saskatchewan. Oddly enough, a month earlier, two Hawker Hurricanes also resided at Yorkton - one of these likely being the Museum's example, RCAF 5667.

Fairchild Cornell Mk.I EW485 at RCAF Station Weyburn in Saskatchewan circa 1944. This aircraft was part of the same production batch as the Museum's Cornell, EW444. With an overall 'trainer yellow' paint scheme, EW444 would have looked remarkably similar. (image by Robert A. Joss via Library & Archives Canada)
Fairchild Cornell Mk.I EW485 at RCAF Station Weyburn in Saskatchewan circa 1944. This aircraft was part of the same production batch as the Museum's Cornell, EW444. With an overall 'trainer yellow' paint scheme, EW444 would have looked remarkably similar. (image by Robert A. Joss via Library & Archives Canada)

Canada: "Aerodrome of Democracy"

RCAF Yorkton was one of some 230 facilities across Canada which functioned as part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), a December 1939 agreement between Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Australia to train aircrew for the Allied armed forces in the war effort against the fascist, Axis Powers of Germany, Japan and Italy. While future articles will explore the BCATP in greater detail, Canada’s role in this enormous initiative was critical to Victory in WWII. The program produced more than 133,500 highly trained aircrew, with a good number of them being U.S. Citizens. Indeed, nearly 9,000 Americans served in the Royal Canadian Air Force during WWII, with many gaining their certifications via the BCATP. Canada’s importance in training Allied aircrew was such that US President Franklin Roosevelt, celebrating the BCATP’s third anniversary, referred to the nation as “The Aerodrome of Democracy” in his January 1st, 1943 letter to Canadian Prime Minister William Mackenzie King.

A wartime image captured from movie film showing a typical BCATP airfield at work in Canada - complete with a Canadian-built Hawker Hurricane Mk.XII buzzing the flightline! There are numerous Fairchild Cornells in the frame (just beyond the Harvards and Cessna Crane in the immediate foreground). Yorkton, with its 100 Cornells would have looked a little like this when the Museum's Cornell Mk.I was in residence circa July 1945, albeit without the plethora of other types seen here.
A wartime image captured from movie film showing a typical BCATP airfield at work in Canada - complete with a Canadian-built Hawker Hurricane Mk.XII buzzing the flightline! There are numerous Fairchild Cornells in the frame (just beyond the Harvards and Cessna Crane in the immediate foreground). Yorkton, with its 100 Cornells would have looked a little like this when the Museum's Cornell Mk.I was in residence circa July 1945, albeit without the plethora of other types seen here.

When EW444 arrived at Yorkton in July 1945, No.23 EFTS had 254 Royal Air Force cadet pilots on its books and exactly 100 Cornell trainers (67 Mk.Is and 33 Mk.IIs). Even with the war in Europe already over and that in the Pacific rapidly approaching its conclusion, the school logged 8,857.25 flying hours during the month of July, 1945. August saw the number of trainee pilots drop to 196, with 6,627.55 flying hours completed. But No.23 recorded no flight training hours at all in September 1945; the cadets having quickly mustered out and the last of their flight instructors leaving by September 15th. A similar situation existed at most other flying schools across Canada; the war was over, so there was little need to finish training new pilots.

A southerly view of RCAF Station Yorkton just north of Yorkton, Saskatchewan as seen during WWII. This airfield (initially occupied by No.11 EFTS) was home to No.23 EFTS from January 29, 1945 until the base's closure on September 15 that year. The Museum's Fairchild Cornell was based here during the summer of 1945.

Since EW444 became operational only late in the war, it obviously logged just a few training flights before the RCAF recategorized her as APDAL (Aircraft Pending Disposal). They transferred the Cornell to No.10 Surplus Equipment Holding Unit at Medicine Hat, Alberta on November 14th, 1945. Upon its formal exit from military service (October 21, 1946), the airframe had just 52.40 total hours on the clock. From there, EW444 must have found a civilian buyer in Canada, as it did not appear on the U.S. civil register (as N74621) until July 20th, 1959; it could not have survived long without an indoor home prior to that date. Presently, we know nothing about those details, so anyone has solid evidence about our Cornell’s civilian operations in Canada, we would love to hear from you!

An advertisement for war surplus ex-RCAF Fairchild Cornells printed in the Edmonton Journal on May 20th, 1948. When the type first became available for civilian purchase in Canada during the summer of 1946, the initially advertised price was CAN$800. Interestingly, the aircraft depicted in the ad's image is Cornell FH652, the very first Cornell which the RCAF received from Fairchild's Hagerstown, Maryland factory circa 1942.
An advertisement for war surplus ex-RCAF Fairchild Cornells printed in the Edmonton Journal on May 20th, 1948. When the type first became available for civilian purchase in Canada during the summer of 1946, the initially advertised price was CAN$800. Interestingly, the aircraft depicted in the ad's image is Cornell FH652, the very first Cornell which the RCAF received from Fairchild's Hagerstown, Maryland factory circa 1942.

EW444 passed through several US-based owners before J. Robert Boyer acquired it in 1985. Boyer’s family donated the Cornell to the museum (along with our Cessna T-50) in March, 2017. It has been in storage for most of the intervening years until now. We expect to cover the restoration regularly here on this site, and look forwards to seeing the little yellow trainer take flight again in a few years time. Watch this space!

Museum volunteers beginning the strip-down process on the Cornell in late January, 2025. (image by David Rathman)
Museum volunteers beginning the strip-down process on the Cornell in late January, 2025. (image by David Rathman)