Fairchild Model 45-55: a "lost" Canadian project

Stargazer

Stargazer

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Seems to be a Fairchild kind of day on the forum... so here's more!

I'm attaching a picture I came across on the web. It's sold as a photo on an auction site, but unfortunately the seller only has this, a cut version of an original Fairchild of Canada blueprint, for a Model I have never previously heard of, the Model 45-55.

From the data available in the photo, we can see it was a sesquiplane project powered by a single P&W S3H1-G engine, with an estimated speed of 175 mph at 5,000 ft. It was designed to operate on floats or on wheels. The wheel version had full wheel spats (I think that's what they're called) like some early Northrops and several racers of the day. This detail and the "45-" designation point to a mid-1930s design.
 

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Excellent! Are there any more drawings?

Molson and Taylor's "Canadian Aircraft Since 1909" list several Model 45-xx projects, but no 45-55. The ones they do list appear to be derivatives of the Model 45-80 Sekani, which first flew in August 1937. The land plane variant appears to have very similar main gear to your Model 45-55, with the tires retracting in to the fairings. This is the only image I could find of a 45-80 not on floats.

18301.jpg
 
No other drawings unfortunately.

Yes, the 45-80 Sekani is (fairly) well-known. There was also a 45-84 variant with two 420hp Ranger GSV-770 instead of the radials.

But here we have a wholly distinct design. To me it seems to be in the same class of aircraft as the Beech 17 but bigger. Of course it's hard to say with such a limited view...
 
On reflection, perhaps the 45-55 is a little later, somewhat around 1939, because the only other Fairchild of Canada pics the dealer has for sale are from 1939 and represent the company's design facilities in Quebec. Perhaps the photographer took a quick, unauthorized pic of a blueprint that was on a table, hence the lack of other images?
 

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Great find! The Fairchild 45-55 seems to be a variation on the single-engined Model 45-65 Nahanni ... with a lower-powered engine. So what advantage would the 45-55 would have over the Model 45-65?

Did the projected Nahanni with a 650 hp geared Wasp esclipse the Model 45-55? Or did the Model 45-55 have the enormous advantage of featuring an engine type that actually existed? ;) (Obviously, "...53-HI-G" is Pratt & Whitney code for a geared Wasp -- first variantion on a Wasp H with single-speed reduction gear.)

The cropped specs table is intriging. The 45-55 was slightly longer than the Model 55-80 (but perhaps Molson/Taylor's quoted length for the Sekani doesn't include the floats?)
 
Apophenia said:
The Fairchild 45-55 seems to be a variation on the single-engined Model 45-65 Nahanni ... with a lower-powered engine.
Click to expand...

I thought of the Nahanni, too, but in my lists it carried the designation Model 40-65, not 45-... I must admit I have very little on this rare bird. This prompts a question that's bugged me for years: Does anyone know the meaning of these 40- and 45- prefixes on some Canadian designations? They remind me of Bellanca's system of designating (wingspan/engine power, I think), but perhaps had nothing to do with it?

Apophenia said:
Obviously, "...53-HI-G" is Pratt & Whitney code for a geared Wasp -- first variantion on a Wasp H with single-speed reduction gear.
Click to expand...

The correct designation is S3H1-G. "S3H1" was P&W's name for some of the Wasp commercial versions (R-1340 being strictly a military designation). "G" indicated a geared variant, indeed.
 
Thanks for the engine model correction. According to Molson and Taylor, the Nahanni was the Model 45-65 (pp 324 and 514).

Under Model 40 variants, Molson and Taylor list the Model 40-50 (2 x 250 hp Rangers), Model 40-60 (2 s 300 hp Ranger V-770s), and Model 40-68 ( 2 x 340 hp GV-770s) - pg. 513.
 
Thanks, Apophenia. I suppose you meant Model 40-60... Typos happen, but it would be nice to fix it, so it doesn't get repeated all over the web (happens so often).
 

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