I was out instructing in the back seat of the PT-19 Cornell the other day, finishing the checkout for a friend of mine, and filmed this touch and go I did from the back. My GoPro Hero 4 has been gathering dust in a drawer for several years, and I have never bothered to get a new one. This is also my first attempt at editing and uploading a video, so here it is in all its 720p, unstabilised glory. No music, so one hopefully can hear a bit of the straight-six Ranger rumble. That engine does make a nice sound! There aren’t that many airworthy PT-19s in Europe, so it is nice to be able to fly one.

Flying a taildragger from the back seat is always interesting. One does not see ahead at all, so peripheral vision is used a lot. The 19 is a very easy taildragger to land, in some ways it is better than many tricycle-geared planes. It has a wide-spaced undercarriage with good damping and little rebound, good brakes and a large rudder.

Have you checked out on the Chipmunk?

Wow, lovely!
According to Wiki only 98 airworthy PT-19 worldwide, a real piece of history you had in your hands.
Please tell us a bit more about this particular airframe if you can.

Cheers,
Slug

So lucky!

This particular airplane never served in Norway, but the PT-19 and 26, which is basically a 19 with a canopy, served as peimary trainers for the Norwegian flying training unit set up in 1940 at what is today Toronto’s Island Airport. It was known as Little Norway, and trained Norwegian pilots throughout WWII.

Our particular PT-19 is painted as one of the aircraft that served there, and named «Spirit of Little Norway.» It was built in 1944, and served in the USAAC before going on the civilian registry in the US after the war. It was restored from 1989-93, and brought to Norway in 2002, and has been here since.

Little Norway Training Centre
Pilot trainees with Curtiss P-36 aircraft at the Little Norway training centre, Toronto Island.
(courtesy National Film Board of Canada/Department of National Defence/Library and Archives Canada/PA-136047

During World War II, many government facilities were used for military purposes, and the island airport became a military training base. In 1940, the Norwegian Government in-exile made arrangements to use the island airport as a training facility for the Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNAF), using airplanes ordered from the United States prior to war breaking out. The facility was named "Little Norway". Barracks were built nearby on the mainland at the foot of Bathurst Street. In 1943, the Norwegians moved to an existing camp at Muskoka, Ontario for their training. The barracks became emergency housing after the war, and were eventually demolished in 1957. The nearby 'Little Norway Park' is named in remembrance of the Norwegian community around the airport. The airport was turned over to the Royal Canadian Air Force for the duration of the war. It was the headquarters for No. 1 Training Command, training pilots on Harvard trainers. It was also used by 124 Ferry Squadron as a waypoint for transporting planes around the country.

Thanks for posting that KK. It's quite an interesting tidbit of WW 2 history.

Didn't know that either so went looking.

The Norwegians must have felt somewhat at home when they moved to Muskoka.

Very good semmern.

There is a perfectly restored PT-19 at our hangars. I’ve been trying to finagle a ride, but the pilot takes no one but his wife.

They are very nostalgic airplanes. You are very fortunate getting to fly one.

Nice bit of info there, KK. Those P-36s that ended up in Canada were originally scheduled to be delivered in the spring of 1940. A couple of them were actually at my airfield, Kjeller, just outside Oslo here, in crates when the Germans invaded. We had seven Gloster Gladiators up, and they shot down five German planes. Who knows what would have happened if we had had a squadron of P-36s up on April 9, 1940.



Yeah, I count myself lucky. I hope you get a ride in it at some point!
Have you thought about getting a taildragger endorsement? It is great fun, and improves your flying skills immensely - not that you need it, but you know what I mean: a pilot with nothing to learn should hand in his license

Next up later this year is getting checked out in the T-6. Then I will be ready whenever some guy asks me if I want to fly his Spitfire or Mustang!

A short video.


Some photos Semmern, and others who might be interested, https://public.fotki.com/Profero/fo...ay-rnaf/1946littlenorwayinp-1.html#media

#%&*$#, forgot to add this list, https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_dKolMEBllSOZ-BkD7xsWYX1DNU4KOfA/view

Here is the one in my hangars.

Lovely! They are so nice to fly, I do hope you manage to sweet-talk your way into a ride