British Forces

A rare bird

Imperial War Museum

This unusual plane, photographed on an airfield in Egypt, is the sole Fairchild 91, a single-engine amphibian (one Pratt & Whitney R-1690, 800 HP, mounted above the wing in a streamlined nacelle) built in very few exemplars for the civil operators, employed by Royal Air Force. The aircraft, HK832 “M” of the RAF’s Sea Rescue Flight, formerly NC16690 on the US civil register, was purchased second-hand by the British Air Ambulance Corps, a New York-based charity. Afterwards was delivered to the Middle East where it served with the Sea Rescue Flight until sunk in a take-off accident near Benghazi on 17 May 1943. Victor Sierra