The Fairchild Model 24, also called the Fairchild Model 24 Argus/UC-61 Forwarder or Fairchild Model 24 Argus, is a four-seat, single-engine monoplane light transport aircraft designed by the Fairchild Aviation Corporation in the 1930s. It was adopted by the United States Army Air Corps as UC-61 and also by the Royal Air Force. The Model 24 was itself a development of previous Fairchild models and became a successful civil and military utility aircraft. In production continuously from 1932 to 1948 the aircraft remained essentially unchanged aerodynamically and internally, with the simple addition of extra passenger seating and optional equipment. Designed for operations from relatively unimproved grass airfields, the sturdy undercarriage construction used a vertical oil dampened cylinder above the wheel with a pivoting strut attached to the lower fuselage. The result was a complex but undeniably solid undercarriage that could absorb large amounts of shock and was also adapted for the fitting of twin floats for water-based operations. The Fairchild 24 built by Kreider-Reisner Aircraft, Hagerstown, Maryland, a division of Fairchild Aviation Corporation, remained in production from 1932 to 1948, essentially the same airframe but with various powerplant and configuration enhancements. In all, Fairchild constructed over 1500 Model 24s, with an additional 280 being constructed by the Texas Engineering & Manufacturing Company (TEMCO) in Dallas when that company purchased the manufacturing rights after World War II. More details about t he development of the Model 24 and its 21 civilian and 18 military variants can be found here. At least two RAF Fairchild F24 Argus aircraft are know to have served with Article XV RAAF units. The first was HK948 which was attached to 451 Sqn to support evaluation trials of the unit's three Hawker Typhoons while they were based at El Daba, Egypt in 1943. An extensive history of the Fairchild 24 in Australia, with many more photos, can be found here.
