The Fletcher FL-23 was a two-seat observation and liaison aircraft developed in the early postwar era by the Fletcher Aviation Corporation. The company had been founded in Pasadena, California, in 1940 or 1941 by brothers Wendell, Frank, and Maurice Fletcher. While the firm initially specialized in aircraft components such as drop tanks, the FL-23 represented an effort to produce complete aircraft designs. The aircraft was designed by aeronautical engineer John W. Thorp, who collaborated with Wendell S. Fletcher to bring the project to fruition.
Technically, the FL-23 was a high-wing monoplane of all-metal construction featuring tandem seating for a pilot and an observer. It was powered by a single Continental E225 six-cylinder, air-cooled, horizontally opposed piston engine, which produced 225 hp (168 kW). The aircraft utilized a fixed tricycle landing gear configuration. Its physical dimensions included a wingspan of 33 ft 4 in (10.16 m), a length of 28 ft 4 in (8.64 m), and a height of 8 ft 1 in (2.46 m), with a total wing area of 277 sq ft (25.7 m²). In terms of performance, the FL-23 reached a maximum speed of 133 mph (214 km/h) and a cruise speed of 118 mph (190 km/h), while maintaining a low stall speed of 38 mph (61 km/h) with flaps extended. It was capable of a rate of climb of 1,180 ft/min.
Only one prototype was ever constructed, bearing the civil registration N122A. The aircraft first flew in 1950, with its FAA registration granted on April 6, 1950. In April of that year, the FL-23 was entered into a competitive US Army evaluation at Wright Field, Ohio, for a light liaison aircraft. It competed against several other models, including the Luscombe T-8FL, Piper PA-18 Super Cub, a redesigned Taylorcraft L-2, and the Cessna Model 305. However, the FL-23 crashed during the evaluation on or around April 20, 1950. Although the pilot survived, the aircraft was withdrawn from the competition, which was ultimately won by the Cessna L-19 Bird Dog.
Following the loss of the sole prototype, the FL-23 never entered series production. Fletcher Aviation continued to develop other aircraft, such as the FD-25 Defender and the FU-24 agricultural aircraft, before eventually pivoting toward specialized aerial refueling equipment. The company underwent several name changes, becoming Flair Aviation in 1960 and later Sargent Fletcher, before aircraft manufacturing was abandoned in 1966. Today, no examples of the FL-23 survive, though records of the aircraft are preserved in the National Air and Space Museum Archives.