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| STANDARD DATA: Seats 2. Gross wt. 1,530. Empty wt. 976. Fuel capacity 24. Engine 110-hp Warner Scarab seven-cylinder radial. PERFORMANCE: Top mph 111. Cruise mph 90. Stall mph 46. Initial climb rate 930. Range 350. Ceiling 16,000. |
The Fleet Aircraft Division of the Consolidated Aircraft Corp. was formed in Buffalo, New York, in 1929 specifically to undertake production of the Fleet Trainer. Prior to 1932, the Fleet I (110-hp Warner), the Fleet 2 (100-hp Kinner), and the Fleet 7 (125-hp Kinner) outsold any other make in their class and also proved to be popular overseas, particularly in China and Latin America. In all, about 600 Fleets were produced in the United States before production was terminated in 1935.
In the late 1930s, Fleet Aircraft of Canada acquired the manufacturing rights to the design and began producing an improved version of the Fleet I under the designation Fleet 16B Finch 11. These models were equipped with 125-hp Kinners, and over 600 were delivered to the R.C.A.F. as basic trainers during the early part of the war. Most of these Canadian models are equipped with a sliding canopy to replace the open cockpit of the earlier models. Perhaps 30 Fleets exist today in the United States, with a few more active in Canada and other countries.
