1/5 scale PT-19

'Cradle of Heroes'...

The Fairchild M-62 Aircraft Series is a classic American Enterprise success story. In 1938, while most military pilots were still receiving their initial training in biplanes, Fairchild Aircraft recognized the need for a new design more closely approximating the more advanced types of aircraft the trainees would soon be flying. With an eye on the news coming from Europe, they 'rolled the dice' and proceeded to develop the military trainer project on their 'own dime', without a government contract, at at their Hagerstown, MD facility. (a development process followed later by North American Aviation with its P-51) The result was one of the most innovative and effective primary training planes ever designed, the Fairchild Primary Trainer ('PT'). The Fairchild PT was given its factory model number M-62 and its official name, the Cornell. The first prototype flew on May 15, 1939 and later that year it won a fly-off competition against 17 other designs for the new Army primary training airplane. Fairchild was awarded its first Army contract for an initial order of 270 airplanes, designated the 'PT-19' on September 22, 1939.

To manufacture the PT-19 aircraft, over ten thousand people throughout the Hagerstown area worked on the production of the airplane. During the war years, companies all over town were employed by Fairchild to make parts and pieces of the PT-19. Furniture companies, machine companies and even the world-renowned pipe organ manufacturer, M.P. Moller made wings and center sections for Fairchild airplanes. Demand eventually outstripped Fairchild's ability to produce it in the numbers needed and construction/license arrangements were made with Fleet Aircraft in Canada and three U.S. companies, Howard Aircraft, St. Louis Aircraft, and Aeronca as well as Fabrica do Galeao in Brazil.

The simple but rugged construction included a fabric-covered welded steel tube fuselage with plywood-covered wood center section, outer wing panels and tail assembly. The use of an inline engine allowed for a very narrow frontal area which was ideal for visibility while the widely set-apart fixed landing gear allowed for solid and stable ground handling. The design was such that it could still accommodate varying engine types (radials and inlines) and was produced in varying configurations with both open cockpits and a sliding canopy. The M-62 Series was inexpensive, simple to maintain and most of all it was very reliable. It was the most produced and used aircraft type of a handful of primary trainer designs that were the first stop on a cadet's way to becoming a combat pilot.

With more than two hundred thousand military pilots awarded wings flying first in a PT-19, it truly lived up to its nickname - the "Cradle of Heroes." Between 1940 and the end of production at war's end, 7,443 aircraft based on the venerable M-62 had been integrated into the US and Commonwealth training programs world wide, serving throughout WWII and beyond. Today, fewer than 240 remain.. with less than half of them currently airworthy.

My business partner, Steve's first Giant Scale projects 20+ years ago was a 'Fun Scale' PT-19 kitted by Dynaflite™. More than a decade ago, that kit of this model was so popular a 'transition' vehicle into the world of Giant Scale and Warbirds in particular that the Warbirds Over Delaware meet had more than 30 of them flying. Truly, the model's heritage in full scale has been mirrored, many hundreds of Giant Scale Modelers made first Giant Scale projects and flights with a PT-19. It was a pilot maker in the 40's.. and a maker of Giant Scale Modelers in the 80's & 90's. Now, the PT-19 is back.. this time from Aviation Concepts and rendered in exact scale; ready to perform for today's competition-class Giant Scale Modelers... in the air AND on the static table!

HEADS UP, FOLKS! Most of the components for this kit (landing gear, cowl, fairings, etc) are NOT directly compatible with the old Dynaflite™ kit without significant modification to either our parts or the Dynaflite™ kit.. our kit is precision scale, NOT 'sport scale' !!

Aviation Concepts Fairchild PT-19A

1/5 Scale, Wing Span: 87.5" (7.29')

Length: 67.5" (5.60')

Wing Area: 1187 sq in

Flying Weight: 19-22 lbs

Wing Loading: 38 oz./ft2

Airfoil: NACA 2415 (scale)

Engine Size: 30-40cc (Gas)

Recommended Prop & RPM: (elect) 18x8, 7,200 rpm

Radio: 5 channel, 7 Servo's

Rudder/ Elevator/ Ailerons/ Flaps/ Throttle

It's taken over 4 years, off and on; to get this from concept to the laser cutter. The development process was often as difficult as herding cats, but thanks to the extra time & effort we've put into the kit design you'll find yours goes together very quickly. We've developed into the design the core elements of strength, durability and survivability without sacrificing a bit of flying ability. And, we made it a breeze to recover from any future mishap with available replacement components. From wing tips to tail sections... even replacement motorbox's and firewalls, just in case you want to re-power with electric at some point in the future! But, that's not all... We've simplified normal field set-up and take-down to two screws. The tail section can be built as completely removable and the wing breaks down in three easy to transport sections. This is a Giant Scale Model that's easy to transport in a small scale car!

Now, you can build your own! The Basic Short Kit comes with top quality printed Full Scale Plans and the loose leaf bindered Color Building Manual. You can also order the fiberglass cowl as well as the fiberglass wing fairings and tail fairings as separate options or get it all at a discount as a builders package. (sorry, this is NOT available as an 'ARF'.. you get to build this!)

Here's why this kit stands out.. Scale Excellence. It's in the design from the start. A commitment to quality and detail in every component without compromise. It's all here..

The Wing!As with anything that flies.. 'the wing is the thing', and with the PT-19 the wing has to not only fly superbly (it does) .. it's got to be scale. So, we set it up like the full scale wing, right down to the airfoil. You may not be aware.. but the Full Scale aircraft had an extra 2 degrees of dihedral on it's removeable tip panels where they join the center section. So.. yup; we designed in the scale dihedral.. and the scale removable tips. It also had split flaps.. so yup, we got scale split flaps too. How's this all go together at the field? One screw. That's it.. less than a minute per panel to get it ready at the field.

The Tail! While on most kits, these may be 'the parts that went over the fence last', in this project we felt they deserved a bit more attention to detail than the usual 'slabs of lumber, carved to shape, attached back there'. The PT-19's tail is scale in detail.. internal elevator linkage, scale access panels under the stab, both stab and fin are scale, airfoil & hinge lines, built up & sheeted. The rudder and elevator are scale in internal construction and covered w/ solartex. And both are completely removeable... with (yup) one bolt. The steerable tailwheel is run on internal 'pull-pull' cables, the rudder on a scale pushrod. Oh.. and did I mention the scale fiberglass tail fairing? We've got that, too.

The Center Section! Here is where an awful lot of midnight oil was expended.. the wing center section would have to be the 'heart' of the aircraft. It's structure has to absorb massive 'sheer' landing loads as well as flight loads, house the flap linkages, mount the scale Robart struts, join the tip panels and 'mate' the fuselage in such a way as to be easily removable and infinitely strong in the air and on the ground.. and the places in between. We used birch aircraft ply for spars, robust large diameter wing tubes and landing gear mount plates that will stay in the wing.. landing after landing. It's rugged just framed up.. when sheeted it seems invincible.

The Fuselage! One of the great aggravations in built-up scale modeling is the lack of scale detail included in the models basic design. No need to worry here.. we've got you covered.. and built the 'scale details' right into the fuselage design. We've got scale opening access panels.. the 'luggage' hatch behind the cockpit and the 'fire extinguisher door' up forward are used to hide the switches and fueling access. The roll bar is not only strong and scale.. it's removable and thus replaceable. The kit includes all the laser cut parts for a completely removable top hatch.. just in case you want to build it for electric power. And the engine box.. it's fully adjustable. And, removable. Also replaceable.. just in case you want to re-power later on. We even provide a scale instrument panel.. two of 'em. Scale windshields, too. Reinforced, by the way.. and also removable. And, replaceable. Room for goodies like smoke tanks and such? No problem.. the center section of the fuselage was designed to 'payload'.. nothing is over the CG but the pilots. Radio equipment flexibility is designed right in.. servos and radio gear can easily mount behind the trailing edge of the wing and remain fully accessible, leaving plenty of room for whatever you want to carry.. from motor packs to telemetry gear.

The Power! The first design consideration for the project was 'Must be suitable for Gas, 4 Stroke or Electric power'. While that's certainly feasible for most kits via modification while building it, we wanted this project to be adaptable to any type of power at any point in it's operational life. That would call for an 'adaptive' power box and firewall configuration. We came up with a unique solution; a strong sliding box and firewall that fits into a rugged outer sleeve incorporated into the fuselage structure.. Just as the A-10 Warthog was designed around an Avenger Cannon, we designed the PT-19 around the adaptive power box and firewall.. It's rugged, can be adjusted to any depth to accommodate any engine/motor combination and house all the gear required to spin the prop.. fuel tank & throttle servo, ignition module and pack, etc OR an electric motor, controller and packs. Four bolts, disconnect the servo lead for the throttle.. and out of the nose slides the 'power package'. Want to change over to electric on the field? With a second power box at hand and all the gear in it.. yup. as simple as that.

On our pre-production prototype (ser 01), we used the Zenoah G-38 from Steve's original PT-19. My parts test bird (ser 02) uses a PTE-36. Both engines are rear exhaust and fit the cowl very nicely. DLE 35 RE (rear exhaust) is the perfect choice...

The Scale Details! On any Scale project the builder has to decide early on just how 'scale' he's going to go on detailing. We set out from the start to provide scale 'outline' fidelity and make it easy to accommodate whatever level of scale detailing you wish to your PT-19.. As an example, a 'fully detailed cockpit' is difficult to execute in a model design that has no room for full pilot figures. We not only provided the room.. we provided direct access via a removable top hatch... and the choice to build it that way or not. The Rollbar and Windshields are scale.. and they are easy to remove and replace and their mounts are exceptionally rugged. The access 'hatches' are on the plans and when you buy the 'complete' short kit package we include the Switch Hide kits to house all your switches and fuel fills.

But wait.. there's more! I even modified a standard after-market tailwheel assembly to a more scale appearance and function and provides the details on how to modify yours on the plans. Strut fairing and tail access panel patterns as well as the methods to create them are included. Prefer to make your own wing and tail fairings the traditional way? All the patterns for traditional built-up fairings are included in the plans and manual. Then we went further, we built the molds and made available for purchase a set of optional fiberglass fairings for the wings and tail. We even provided the Historical Aviation Album Three-Views for Scale Outline, printed in the manual and available for the Judges at ScaleMasters & Top Gun. We've also provided dimensional data to the hobbies best aftermarket 'dash' folks, putting an optional exact scale dash panel package in the works already.. nonetheless, we provide in the kit high-res gloss prints and laser cut dashboard panels to make your own. It's all about choices in the scale world.. so, we worked hard at making sure you'll have the best possible 'canvas' for your masterpiece.

The Plans and Manual! When I built my first Giant Scale project it was initially overwhelming. I got a set of plans and pile of poorly die-crunched ribs and formers and stacks of sticks and sheet wood that was fit for parakeets to gnaw on.. hardly suitable for a model. I found the plans were inaccurate, the mimeograph manual illegible and the few blurry B&W pictures were useless. There was no continuity and the process involved a lot of annoyance and aggravation. I finally tossed the manual in the garbage, fed the provided cruddy stick and sheetwood to the birds and used my previous experience and a lot of willpower to create something that flew.. but I didn't want to do it again. (there's a reason that company went out of business!) Even today, most laser-cut parts and plans sets from the 'classic' kit designers provide basic ribs and formers of mediocre quality and not much else. No laser cut ply jigs, no laser cut detail parts, no fairing patterns, etc. They don't even include a manual! The blurred copied plans offer some hints.. but you are on your own.

Building an Aviation Concepts kit is a welcome change.. it's everything that most other Giant Scale kits are not. The 6 full sized sheets of plans are superb, detailed and are accurate original prints.. not copies. The monogrammed (your name and Kit/Plan serial number are on the cover!) 108 page manual is laser printed on quality paper and wire bound that lays flat on the table.. with over five hundred sharp, clear color hi-res pictures; and more of them than text. The process is enjoyable, the steps straightforward and explained clearly. If you get in a bind and need some help.. We're here and glad to assist. And, best of all.. it's a precision laser cut kit of a quality not common in modeling.

This advanced kits laser cut formers, wing & tail ribs, spars, jigs, gussets, fuselage sides, etc are somewhat intricate, laser etch identified with part numbers, interlock and are designed for 'dry fit' speed & simplicity in assembly, taking full advantage of modern adhesives, Cad design and assembly techniques. This makes it a pleasure to build

The Complete Package Deal

Here's the complete 'Short Kit'. You'll get the Plans and Manual, the Fiberglass Cowl & Resin Exhaust Pipes. Full Fiberglass Fairings set for the wings & tail, the Laser Cut Wood Package, 2 Custom Switch Hides. Shipping in the United States is $50.00 Overseas will be charged extra.