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Hi Tom,Dear All - have this photo that I believe was taken at Polaris Flight Academy, Lancaster, California late 1941/early 1942. My grandfather was stationed there for WW2 flight training. He flew Stearman and BT-13 trainers (and also 'Link Trainers') and I presumed that this cockpit was from one of these. I have scoured the internet and studied very carefully cockpit shots of the above and not found any definitive match.
Just wondered if anybody has a view and can help in any way.
Many thanks Tom
We had a WWII vintage "blue box" Link trainer at TD school in the Navy which was strictly ornamental, but "sort of" functional, and sometimes during coffee break we would fire it up for giggles. I was the only one in my class with a pilots license, so I always got elected to embarrass myself in it, to the amusement of the rest.Dear All - have this photo that I believe was taken at Polaris Flight Academy, Lancaster, California late 1941/early 1942. My grandfather was stationed there for WW2 flight training. He flew Stearman and BT-13 trainers (and also 'Link Trainers') and I presumed that this cockpit was from one of these. I have scoured the internet and studied very carefully cockpit shots of the above and not found any definitive match.
Just wondered if anybody has a view and can help in any way.
Many thanks Tom
Hi Tom,
the transmitter on the right side of the cockpit is a Learadio - I don't know the exact model though; similar to this one:
https://thumbs.worthpoint.com/zoom/...ceiver_1_d49fa6185376df463b5b931fd1fd60e7.jpg
I don't think this is a Link trainer - I see a tubular frame behind the cockpit which looks more like from a real a/c.
I have a question: was your Granddad with the RAF?
Hi Tom, thank you for the additional details about your grandfather!Hi Catch 22 - ooh yes definitely a Learadio AMR receiver - thank you very much for this tantalising clue (I wouldn't have found that in a long long time!). Yes, my grandfather was a Lancaster pilot from May - July 1943. His last and fatal Op was Turin 13/14 July. A long journey including No. 2 BFTS (Polaris, Lancaster, California 41/42), various OTUs, CU and ending up at 12 Squadron, Wickenby at the height of the Battle of the Ruhr. Regards Tom
Hi Tom, thank you for the additional details about your grandfather!
The Learadio detail was not that "tantalizing" at all - the "L" in the logo is very characteristic and I've seen this type of radios in WWII a/cs. As with some earlier threads in this forum I tried to point towards something I know and I believe there are many others who will know something else. As with a big puzzle one cannot see the whole picture from the very beginning but can start with the "corner pieces". I hope somebody else will add more details.
As Wes mentioned above privately owned a/cs have been used for the CPT program. It is not impossible that this is a photo of e.g. some (former) civil airplane.
Cheers!
BINGO! The key observation. Since it appears the fuselage is steel tube construction rather than aluminum monocoque, that kind of narrows the field, likely eliminating the Spartan, the Valiant, and probably the Stinson. The Stinson was steel tube, but it was an open cockpit parasol monoplane, which would seem problematical for radio communications.In my estimation the panel looks like a form of blind flying panel.
I was checking all of the above mentioned a/cs the other day - they have this characteristic elliptic (oval) dashboard:Possibly a Fairchild PT19, PT23, or PT26, although the open cockpit PT19 would be hard to imagine with a radio. OTOH, I've read that the Canadians actually modified PT19s by adding canopies before PT26s became available to them. The mystery continues.
Cheers,
Wes
That's true, but the OP, I believe was referring to an instrument trainer, and these panels aren't adequate for instrument training, so if it was one of these airframes, it was modified. OTOH, the rear cockpit control lock image resembles structurally the original photo. Properly equipped, one of these Fairchilds would make a good instrument trainer, as they're docile, stable, and honest flyers, good for building confidence in challenged young pilots struggling to make those pesky needles behave.The initial photo shows a different configuration, IMHO.
That's true, but the OP, I believe was referring to an instrument trainer, and these panels aren't adequate for instrument training, so if it was one of these airframes, it was modified. OTOH, the rear cockpit control lock image resembles structurally the original photo. Properly equipped, one of these Fairchilds would make a good instrument trainer, as they're docile, stable, and honest flyers, good for building confidence in challenged young pilots struggling to make those pesky needles behave.
Cheers,
Wes
Concur. The Spartan 7W was the Gulfstream of its day.I think this cockpit is too narrow and too "spartan", (in the accepted sense), to be a 7W.
Nice job of research! Looks like you've dug up a winner.the FAA records do show that two of the Polaris C-3R's were fitted with "Lear AMR1 receiver installed on rear instrument panel" during their conversion to two seat trainers by Aircraft Industries Corp., Glendale, California, in April 1941.
Thank you all so much for your thoughts, ideas and suggestions. My grandfather was definitely at Polaris in December 1941 at the time of Pearl Harbour. The Stearman C-3R certainly looks a winner to me and would make sense. The photo of the Stearman over a valley in LA is just wonderful