Fairchild 91 by Sword

1/72 scale
Kit No. 72013
Cost: $25.00
Decals: By Techmod, two versions – Imperial Japanese Navy, and Spanish Nationalist Forces, 1938
Comments: Engraved panel lines; vacuform canopy; detailed cabin interior with resin seats; option for floatplane or land-based version

History

The Fairchild 91 was a single-engine, eight-passenger flying boat developed in the United States in the mid-1930’s in response to a Pan American Airlines requirement for a small amphibian aircraft, somewhat larger than the Sikorsky S-38, that could operate along Pan Am’s big river routes in the interior of South America and China. In his drive for aerodynamic efficiency designer A.A. Gassner, in mounting the lone radial engine above the wing, declined to employ naked struts supporting a nacelle, as had been done with many European flying boats of the period. The Pratt & Whitney engine and its nacelle were still supported by struts, but they were hidden and blended into the wing by means of an aluminum and fabric-covered fairing, giving the Fairchild 91 its unusual appearance. This left the nose, where the engine could not be located on a seaplane, free to take on the naval contours seen on any other conventional flying boat.

Designed to carry travelers along the Amazon in Brazil, and the Yangtze in China, the Fairchild 91 was a conventional high-wing cantilever monoplane with its radial engine mounted above the wing in its trademark streamlined nacelle. Before construction of the prototype was complete, however, Pan American no longer required the aircraft to operate in China, and Fairchild modified the design to optimize it for the tropical conditions of South America.

The first flight was in early 1935. Pan Am took delivery of two aircraft shortly thereafter and immediately turned them over to its Brazilian subsidiary, Panair do Brasil, for use on the Amazon River routes — which led to the nickname of “Jungle Clipper.” Pan American soon cancelled the remaining four aircraft on its order, discovering that the two aircraft they had already purchased were capable of handling their entire Amazon River demand; the Model 91 had become a victim of its own success. Panair kept flying its Fairchild 91’s until 1945, when they were stripped of useful equipment and scrapped.  Fairchild completed one more airframe under the designation A-942-A. Although the total number of all sub-types produced is unclear, all sources are agreed that no more than 12 were built. The sole A-942-B was specially built for the American Museum of Natural History (registration no. NR777), to be used by naturalist Richard Archbold on his second expedition to New Guinea in 1936-37.

The prototype was sold to the Spanish Republican Air Force, and was to be delivered to them with the help of a clandestine operative. But it was captured en route by Spanish Nationalists who intercepted the ship on which it was being transported, and the plane flew in the service of Franco’s fascist government until 1938.

Two Fairchild 91’s were sold to the Imperial Japanese Navy through a New York intermediary and tested as the Navy Experimental LXF1 Type F Transport Amphibian; one of those aircraft is represented by the kit decals. One was damaged on delivery and the second is known to have served with the IJN in Nanking, China as of 1939. The last 91 built was purchased by American millionaire Gar Wood after Fairchild had used it as a demonstrator aircraft to attract sales. Wood had the interior refurbished to add two “couchettes” with stylish fittings and plush seats, to facilitate airborne entertaining. Later, during World War II, as part of the British American Ambulance Corps, Wood had the plane repainted in RAF markings and named “Wings of Mercy.” He donated both it and a Grumman Goose to the Royal Air Force, who sent it to Egypt to serve as an air-sea rescue aircraft in various camouflage schemes with the serial HK832. It served until mid-1943, when it hit a submerged object while taxiing and was sunk.

Specifications

Crew: two pilots
Capacity: eight passengers
Length: 46 ft 8 in (14.22 m)
Wingspan: 56 ft 0 in (17.07 m)
Height: 14 ft 8 in (4.47 m)
Wing area: 483 ft2 (44.9 m2)
Empty weight: 6,596 lb (2,992 kg)
Gross weight: 10,500 lb (4,763 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Pratt & Whitney R-1690, 800 hp (600 kW)

Performance

Maximum speed: 167 mph (269 km/h)
Range: 665 miles (1,070 km)
Service ceiling: 15,600 ft (4,755 m)
Rate of climb: 840 ft/min (4.3 m/s)

The Kit

Sword’s Fairchild 91 is injection molded in grey plastic and consists of 69 parts (ten of resin, for the pilot, co-pilot, and passengers’ seats, ten clear plastic parts for the cabin windows and wing lights, and two vacuform windscreens). The parts are crisply molded with engraved detail and have no flash. There are subtle stressed fabric effects over most of the wing and tail surfaces, for aft of leading spars these components were fabric covered on the actual aircraft. The same is true for the aft section of the dorsal engine nacelle as it curves down to blend in with the airframe.

The only resin parts are the highly detailed passenger seats, featuring arm and headrests, and the slightly smaller seats for the pilot and co-pilot which lack these amenities. There are clear parts for eight cabin windows, one for each passenger. The cockpit features a main instrument panel with a modicum of raised detail, and separately mounted bomber-style control yokes which look quite delicate and will likely have to be handled in a gingerly fashion. The cabin features bulkheads separating the cockpit from the passengers, and dividing the passengers into two sections of four seats each.

The shoulder-mounted wing consists of three parts, and the unconventional engine nacelle has a part for the face at least of a radial engine. There is a one-piece three-bladed propeller. Modelers have a choice of wing floats with or without conventional landing gear. There is a paint guide, but it calls out basic colors (aluminum, black, leather) and does not identify any specific manufacturer.

Decals

The decals are by Techmod and provide markings for two versions of this unusual aircraft: 1) a Fairchild 91 sold to the Imperial Japanese Navy about 1938; and 2) for another aircraft intended for Spanish Republican forces but hijacked en route and commandered by the Spanish Nationalist forces of Franco during the Spanish Civil War, also about 1938.  All markings are in register with good color and have a professional, semi-gloss appearance.  Both aircraft are in a scheme of overall aluminum, with black anti-glare panel forward of the cockpit, and the bottom, similar to the keel of a boat as was common in seaplanes of the period, painted black.  The Spanish Nationalist version also features a white rudder and wingtips, and a red flash on both sides of the engine nacelle, but as no decal is provided for the latter, this detail will have to be added by painting.

Conclusion

This is an unusual kit of a “Baby Clipper” specifically designed for Pan Am but is not widely known as it had a very short production run. Highly recommended for historical interest and rarity.

References

• www.wikipedia.org
• Kit instructions