Ezra's plane

Ezra's plane was real. Its a highly modified de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk. It is a fully-cantilever winged trainer for the Canadian Air Force and I believe Britain's RAF as well for many years. It is an aerobatic trainer, and you can still see some on the airshow circuits (Pepsi Skydancer, Oregon Aero Skydancer, etc).

In the movie, they added guy wires and made the wheels look like the older, time-orientated tire, but it was a real airplane. They also modified the turtle deck and the cockpit area, making it look like a PT-19ish era of open cockpit aircraft, which is fitting for the movie.

I hope this helps. What a great movie!

It's a modifed de Havilland of Canada Chimpmunk, a trainer designed in the late 40s and later a popular aerobatic aircraft. It was used by both the Canadian and British militray.
Take off the canopy, add a brace and some phoney flying wires...there you go!
The cowl was too small to house the Liberty engine they discussed earlier, but all in all, it worked.