Wichita Wonder – Cessna’s T-50 proves to be astonishingly necessary for RCAF trainees

In 1975, the Canadian Warplane Heritage began restoration of 7862 under guidance of ex-RCAF pilot Harry Smith. Registered post-war as CF-FGF and currently wearing No. 4 SFTS markings where Smith received his wings in 1943, the aircraft serves as a functional memorial to the BCATP. (Photo courtesy Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum)

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Before Pearl Harbor, nations at war desperately needed more twin-engine pilots. North of the U.S. border, the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan’s armada of Airspeed Oxfords and Avro Ansons could not meet demands. Cessna’s contribution not only saved the Allies, but rescued an American manufacturer from near collapse. Roof shingles and lightning rods thudded into prairie snow as a yellow airplane slammed against a barn, west of Winnipeg. While tangs of dribbling 80/87 gasoline wafted...

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