We’ve received a lot of calls and e-mails from readers who tell us that the subject of the cover story of the Aug. 31 issue, Ed Escallon’s PT-26, is really a PT-19.
For example, several readers told us that the PT-26 has a canopy on it, and Escallon’s airplane clearly does not.
Escallon clarified the matter: “The airplane doesn’t change designation based on being open or closed. I took off the canopy and put on a PT-19 open cockpit top,” he explained, adding that the cockpit instrumentation should have verified that it is a PT-26. “The view of the instrument panel showed the full panel of the 26, not the primary panel of the 19. In Canada, the Cornell was the basic trainer preceding the Harvard AT-6/SNJ. The Tiger Moth was their primary trainer. So night flying lights and instrument training was necessary in the Cornell’s capabilities.”
