Restored Fairchild/Fleet Cornell
Submitted by Gord McNulty
A beautifully restored Fairchild/Fleet Cornell provided a welcome surprise at an open house fly day of the Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association in Tillsonburg, ON, on 1 Aug, 2015. Cornell CF-CVE/FV724 is owned by Doug Harkes of Wroxeter, ON. Doug acquired the Cornell "in a million pieces" from a farm in Alberta and started the rebuild in 2010. This aircraft was among the last 50 built by Fleet Aircraft at Fort Erie and was never assigned to a school. At one time it belonged to the Brant Norfolk Flying Club. The restored aircraft first flew on 23 May 2015. Doug, and pilot Dave Thomas of Goderich, ON, then flew it to EAA AirVenture at Oshkosh, where it won a Silver Lindy Award in the Reserve Champion Antique Category. Well-deserved accolades for an excellent restoration!
Fairchild (Fleet) Cornell CF-CVE (ex-RCAF FV724), Mount Hope 5-4-69 (Jack McNulty Collection)
Also shown is a photo of CF-CVE taken at Hamilton's Mount Hope Airport in 1969 by my father, Jack. At the time, it was painted in what appears to be a hybrid civilian/military paint scheme, with the Fleet logo on the fin, above the fin flash. What an impressive Cornell, whatever the paint scheme.
CVE in flight, Tillsonburg, Aug. 1, 2015.
CVE firing up at Tillsonburg, Doug Harkes, owner, Wroxeter, Dave Thomas, pilot, Goderich, Aug. 1, 2015.