Toronto, Ontario
Pilot Officer Pritchard and Leading Aircraftman W.C. Lockhart (RAF) were on an instructional flight when the port wing of Cornell aircraft 10863 broke away away during flight. They were killed when the aircraft crashed two and one half miles south-west of Assiniboia.
Pritchard, Francis Charles (Pilot Officer)
Killed in Flying Accident 1944-January-19
Birth Date: 1915
Born:
Parents: Son of George F. Pritchard and Vera M. Pritchard, of Toronto; husband of Helen Pritchard, of Toronto.
Spouse: Husband of Helen Pritchard, of Toronto.
Home: Toronto, Ontario
Enlistment:
Enlistment Date: unkown date
Service
RCAF
Unit
34 EFTS- Elementary Flying Training School (RAF)
Base
Assiniboia, Saskatchewan, Canada
Rank
Pilot Officer
Position
Pilot
Service Numbers
J/35296
School Daily Diary Entry - 1944-01-19
Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
www.findagrave.comCrew or Other Personnel
Cornell 10863
Cornell serial: 10863
Fairchild Cornell Mk. II
Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum
Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum
In early 1942, an agreement was signed between the Canadian Government and Fairchild Aircraft, which licenced Fleet Aircraft of Fort Erie, Ontario to construct the PT-26 Cornell in Canada. The first 800 Cornells used by the RCAF were supplied from Fairchild, until production commenced at Fort Erie in November 1942. By the end of the war in 1945, 2,853 Cornells had been built by Fleet - 1,565 for the RCAF and 1,288 for the RAF.
PT-26 Cornells were flown at many of the Elementary Flying Training Schools (EFTS) of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, where they replaced the Fleet Finch and the de Havilland Tiger Moth biplane trainers. After the Second World War, many Cornells were sold to the civilian market, but some were retained by the RCAF, where they were finally retired in 1948. CWPHM
Cornell Trainer
Wikipedia Cornell Trainer
Harold A Skaarup Web PageUnit Desciption
34 EFTS (34 Elementary Flying Training School)
An Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS) gave a trainee 50 hours of basic flying instruction on a simple trainer like the De Havilland Tiger Moth, Fleet Finch, or Fairchild Cornell over 8 weeks.Elementary schools were operated by civilian flying clubs under contract to the RCAF and most of the instructors were civilians. For example, No. 12 EFTS Goderich was run by the Kitchener-Waterloo Flying Club and the County of Huron Flying Club.The next step for a pilot was the Service Flying Training School.
NO34 EFTS Assiniboia
For More Information on RCAF Station Assiniboa see here
RCAF.info - Station Assiniboa Saskatchewan
RCAF.info - Relief Landing Field Lethburn Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan Virtual War Memorial
Vintage Wings - Ghosts Of Saskatchewan