PAC Fletcher

Fletcher FU-24
Fletcher FU-24 in Wanganui Aero Work (now Ravensdown) colours.
Role	agricultural aircraft
Manufacturer	Fletcher Aviation
Designer	John Thorp
First flight	14 June 1954
Status	production ceased
Number built	297
Variants	PAC Cresco

The Fletcher FU-24 is an agricultural aircraft made in New Zealand. One of the first designed for aerial topdressing, the Fletcher has also been used for other aerial applications as a utility aircraft, and for sky diving.

The FU-24 was loosely based on the Fletcher FD-25 Defender, designed by US aeronautical engineer and light aircraft enthusiast John W. Thorp, and originally conceived in 1951 as an STOL light attack aircraft. The prototype Defender was built by Fletcher Aviation in California and first flew in 1953. A few Defenders were later built in Japan.

At the time New Zealand top dressing operators were in the U.S. seeking a replacement for war surplus De Havilland Tiger Moths which formed the backbone of the industry. Thorp and Wendell Fletcher incorporated many elements of the Defender into a new design, the FU-24. A group of New Zealand top dressing operators gathered a hundred options for the design off the drawing board, and founded a company, Air Parts, to assemble the type in New Zealand, while a New Zealand farming company, Cable Price Corporation, funded the construction of two prototypes in the U.S. with the New Zealand Meat Producers Board acting as financial guarantor.

The first prototype FU-24 flew on 14 June 1954 in the United States, then was disassembled for shipment to New Zealand, together with the (unflown) second prototype. The original prototype had a 225 hp (168 kW) engine and open cockpit. Prior to production commencing, this design was altered to add an enclosed cockpit and more powerful 260 to 310 hp (230 kW) Continental engines.

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Wikipedia