Fairchild 45-80

Infobox Aircraft
name=45-80 Sekani


caption=Fairchild 45-80 Sekani (CF-BHD c/n 101) c. 1937
type=Passenger/cargo transport
manufacturer=Fairchild Aircraft Ltd. (Canada)
designer=Nathan Floyd Vanderlipp
first flight=24 August avyear|1937
introduced=
retired=
status=prototypes only
primary user=
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produced=
number built=2
variants with their own articles=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.

Design and development

Designed by Fairchild (Canada) in the hope of attracting orders from the Royal Canadian Air Force and Canadian Airways,the 45-80 was an ambitious project, being the largest design yet attempted. [Milberry 1979, p. 110.] The Sekani was a large sesquiplane of conventional configuration, with the sets of wings joined to the top and bottom of the fuselage and braced by N-struts. The lower set of wings were little more than stubs; their bracing to the upper wings passed through the engine nacelles (mounted on the upper wings), and they carried the pontoon undercarriage beneath them. Following typical Fairchild construction, the fuselage and empennage were made of fabric-covered welded steel tubing while the main wings were a combination of spruce spars and stainless steel ribs, also fabric covered. The "stub" wings were of heavy steel construction. The retractable undercarriage (a first for a Canadian designed aircraft) also featured streamlined fairings when the aircraft was equipped with skis. [Molson and Taylor 1982, p. 324–325.]

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. Molson and Taylor 1982, p. 325.]

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.

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.

pecifications

aerospecs
ref="Canadian Aircraft Since 1909" [Molson and Tayler 1982, p. 326.]
met or eng?= met

crew=Two pilots
capacity=12 passengers
length m=11.94
length ft=39
length in=2
span m=17.27
span ft=57
span in=0
swept m=
swept ft=
swept in=
rot number=
rot dia m=
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dia m=
dia ft=
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width m=
width ft=
width in=
height m=3.63
height ft=11
height in=11
wing area sqm=54.3
wing area sqft=584.5
swept area sqm=
swept area sqft=
rot area sqm=
rot area sqft=
volume m3=
volume ft3=
aspect ratio=
empty weight kg=3,223
empty weight lb=7,100
gross weight kg=4,313
gross weight lb=9,500
lift kg=
lift lb=

eng1 number=2
eng1 type=Pratt & Whitney Wasp Junior
eng1 kw= 300
eng1 hp= 400
eng1 kn=
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eng2 number=
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max speed kmh=308.9
max speed mph=192
max speed mach=
cruise speed kmh=275.1
cruise speed mph=171
range km=
range miles=
endurance h=
endurance min=
ceiling m=4,572
ceiling ft=15,000
glide ratio=
climb rate ms=6.0
climb rate ftmin=1,180
sink rate ms=
sink rate ftmin=

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References

Notes

Bibliography

* [http://www.flightglobal.com/PDFArchive/View/1937/1937%20-%201127.html "Canadian Convertible."] Flight, 29 April 1937, p. 427. Retrieved: 9 March 2008.
* Milberry, Larry. "Aviation In Canada". Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd., 1979. 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.
* Taylor, Michael J.H. "Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation". London: Studio Editions, 1989, p. 354.

External links

* [http://1000aircraftphotos.com/Contributions/Shumaker/7146.htm Fairchild 45-80 Sekani (CF-BHD c/n 101)]