Fairchild PT - 19 The Fairchild PT - 19 ( company designation Fairchild M62 ) was an American Fairchild Aircraft monoplane primary trainer aircraft that served with the United States Army Air Forces , RAF and RCAF during World War II . It was a contemporary of the Kaydet biplane trainer and was used by the USAAF during Primary Flying Training as the introductory pre - solo phase trainer for introducing new pilots to flying before passing them on to the more agile Kaydet . As with other USAAF trainers of the period , the PT - 19 had multiple designations based on the power plant installed . Design and development . The PT - 19 series was developed from the Fairchild M - 62 when the USAAC first ordered the aircraft in 1940 as part of its expansion program . The cantilever low - wing monoplane with fixed landing gear and tailwheel design was based on a two - place , tandem seating , open cockpit arrangement . The simple but rugged construction included a fabric - covered welded steel tube fuselage . The remainder of the aircraft used plywood construction , with a plywood - sheathed center section , outer wing panels and tail assembly . The use of an inline engine allowed for a narrow frontal area which was ideal for visibility while the widely set - apart fixed landing gear allowed for solid and stable ground handling . The M - 62 first flew in May 1939 , and won a fly - off competition later that year against 17 other designs for the new Army training airplane . Fairchild was awarded its first Army PT contract for an initial order on 22 September 1939 . The original production batch of 275 were powered by the inline 175 hp Ranger L - 440 - 1 engine and designated the PT - 19 . In 1941 mass production began and 3 , 181 of the PT - 19A model , powered by the 200 hp L - 440 - 3 , were made by Fairchild . An additional 477 were built by Aeronca and 44 by the St . Louis Aircraft Corporation . The PT - 19B , of which 917 were built , was equipped for instrument flight training by attaching a collapsible hood to the front cockpit . When a shortage of engines threatened production , the PT - 23 model was introduced which was identical except for the 220 hp Continental R - 670 radial powerplant . A total of 869 PT - 23s were built as well as 256 of the PT - 23A , which was the instrument flight - equipped version . The PT - 23 was manufactured in the US by Fairchild , Aeronca , St . Louis Aircraft Corporation and Howard Aircraft Corporation and in Canada by Fleet Aircraft Corporation as well as Fabrica do Galeao in Brazil ( 220 or 232 between 1944 and 1947 ) . During 1943 , USAAF Training Command received a number of complaints about durability issues with the plywood wings of the PT - 19 and the PT - 23 when exposed to the high heat and / or humidity of training bases located in Texas and Florida . Maintenance officers at the USAAF overhaul depots had been forced to order replacement of the wooden wing sections after only two to three months ' active service because of wood rot and ply separation issues . Subsequent to this incident , the USAAF incorporated a demand for all - metal wing sections on all future fixed - wing training aircraft . The final variant was the PT - 26 which used the L - 440 - 7 engine . The Canadian - built versions of these were designated the Cornell for use by the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan which was centered in Canada . Operational history . Compared to the earlier biplane trainers , the Fairchild PT - 19 provided a more advanced type of aircraft . Speeds were higher and wing loading more closely approximated that of combat aircraft , with flight characteristics demanding more precision and care . Its virtues were that it was inexpensive , simple to maintain and , most of all , virtually vice - less . The PT - 19 truly lived up to its nickname , the Cradle of Heroes . It was one of a handful of primary trainer designs that were the first stop on a cadet ' s way to becoming a combat pilot . Thousands of the PT - 19 series were rapidly integrated into the US and Commonwealth training programs , serving throughout World War II and beyond . Even after their retirement in the late 1940s , a substantial number found their way onto the US civil register . Survivors . , there are 98 airworthy worldwide today . One example is found at the Jimmy Doolittle Air & Space Museum , Travis Air Force Base , Fairfield , California .