Miloch
June 10th 19, 03:04 PM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairchild_C-82_Packet
The C-82 Packet is a twin-engined, twin-boom cargo aircraft designed and built
by Fairchild Aircraft. It was used briefly by the United States Army Air Forces
and the successor United States Air Force following World War II. The aircraft
was named as a tribute to the packet boats that hauled mail, passengers and
freight in Europe and its colonies, including North American rivers and canals,
for most of the 18th and 19th centuries.
Developed by Fairchild, the C-82 was intended as a heavy-lift cargo aircraft to
succeed prewar civilian designs like the Curtiss C-46 Commando and Douglas C-47
Dakota using non-critical materials in its construction, primarily plywood and
steel, so as not to compete with the production of combat aircraft. However, by
early 1943 changes in specifications resulted in plans for an all-metal
aircraft. The aircraft was designed for a number of roles, including cargo
carrier, troop transport, parachute drop, medical evacuation, and glider towing.
It featured a rear-loading ramp with wide doors and an empennage set 14 feet off
the ground that permitted trucks and trailers to back up to the doors without
obstruction. The single prototype first flew on 10 September 1944. The aircraft
were built at the Fairchild factory in Hagerstown, Maryland, with deliveries
beginning in 1945 and ending in September 1948.
Problems surfaced almost immediately as the aircraft was found to be
underpowered and its airframe inadequate for the heavy lifting it was intended
to perform. As a result, the Air Force turned to Fairchild for a solution to the
C-82's shortcomings. A redesign was quickly performed under the designation
XC-82B, which would overcome all of the C-82A's initial problems.
Role
Cargo and troop transport
National origin
United States
Manufacturer
Fairchild Aircraft
First flight
10 September 1944
Primary user
United States Army Air Forces
Produced
1944–1948
Number built
223
Developed into
C-119 Flying Boxcar
First flown in 1944, the first delivery was not until June 1945 and only a few
entered service before the end of the war. In the end, only 223 C-82As would be
built, a small number for a wartime production cargo aircraft. Most were used
for cargo and troop transport, although a few were used for paratroop operations
or towing military gliders. A redesign of the XC-82B would result in the
production of the C-119 Flying Boxcar.
In 1946, the United States Postal Service explored the concept of flying post
offices using highly modified C-82s which would operate similarly to those on
trains where mail would be sorted by clerks and put in bags and then transferred
to trucks on landing.
In 1948, a C-82 was fitted with track-gear landing gear, similar to the tracks
on a crawler tractor, that allowed landings on unpaved, primitive runways.
During the Berlin Blockade, five C-82 aircraft carried large disassembled
earthmoving equipment into the city to enable the construction of Berlin-Tegel
Airport in the fall of 1948.
Though relatively unsuccessful, the C-82A is best considered as an early
development stage of the much more successful C-119B Flying Boxcar. The C-82A
saw limited production before being replaced by the Flying Boxcar.
The C-82 was retired from the US Air Force inventory in 1954
After the C-82A became surplus to United States Air Force requirements, small
numbers were sold to civilian operators in Brazil, Chile, Mexico and the United
States and these were utilized for many years as rugged freight aircraft capable
of carrying bulky items of cargo. The last example was retired in the late
1980s.
Specifications (C-82A)
General characteristics
Crew: three
Capacity: 42 troops or 34 stretchers
Length: 77 ft 1 in (23.50 m)
Wingspan: 106 ft 5½ in (32.46 m)
Height: 26 ft 4 in (8.03 m)
Wing area: 1,400 ft² (130.1 m²)
Empty weight: 32,500 lb (14,773 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 54,000 lb (24,545 kg)
Powerplant: 2 × Pratt & Whitney R-2800-85 radials, 2,100 hp (1,567 kW) each
Performance
Maximum speed: 248 mph (216 knots, 399 km/h) at 17,500 ft (5,300 m)
Cruise speed: 218 mph (190 knots, 351 km/h) at 10,000 ft (3,050 m)
Range: 3,875 mi (3,370 nmi, 6,239 km)
Service ceiling: 21,200 ft (6,460 m)
Rate of climb: 950 ft/min (4.8 m/s)
Wing loading: 30 lb/ft² (146 kg/m²)
Power/mass: 0.10 hp/lb (0.16 kW/kg)
Popular culture
The C-82 is perhaps best known for its role in the 1964 novel, The Flight of the
Phoenix, and Robert Aldrich's original 1965 film version. Based on the novel by
Elleston Trevor, the story centers around a C-82A Packet operated by the
fictional Arabco Oil Company. It crashes in a Libyan desert, and is rebuilt by
the passengers and crew, using one tail boom, and is then flown to safety. Such
an aircraft was made for the movie and FAA airworthy certified. Paul Mantz,
possibly the greatest Hollywood stunt pilot in history with 25,000 logged hour
of flight, was killed when he bounced the skids of the craft down too hard in a
touch and go, with the cameras rolling, buckling and breaking the fuselage
behind the wing sending the crat nose down hard into the desert tumbling it
completely over at 90 MPH. over. Mantz was killed instantly.
Minor-league baseball namesake
In 1953, the local minor-league baseball team in Hagerstown, Maryland, was the
Hagerstown Braves, so called because they were a minor-league affiliate of the
major league Milwaukee Braves. The Hagerstown team switched affiliates to the
Washington Senators for the 1954 season. Instead of using the major league
nickname, they chose to be called the Hagerstown Packets in tribute to the C-82.
The Hagerstown Packets played in the Piedmont League during the 1954 and 1955
seasons.
*
The C-82 Packet is a twin-engined, twin-boom cargo aircraft designed and built
by Fairchild Aircraft. It was used briefly by the United States Army Air Forces
and the successor United States Air Force following World War II. The aircraft
was named as a tribute to the packet boats that hauled mail, passengers and
freight in Europe and its colonies, including North American rivers and canals,
for most of the 18th and 19th centuries.
Developed by Fairchild, the C-82 was intended as a heavy-lift cargo aircraft to
succeed prewar civilian designs like the Curtiss C-46 Commando and Douglas C-47
Dakota using non-critical materials in its construction, primarily plywood and
steel, so as not to compete with the production of combat aircraft. However, by
early 1943 changes in specifications resulted in plans for an all-metal
aircraft. The aircraft was designed for a number of roles, including cargo
carrier, troop transport, parachute drop, medical evacuation, and glider towing.
It featured a rear-loading ramp with wide doors and an empennage set 14 feet off
the ground that permitted trucks and trailers to back up to the doors without
obstruction. The single prototype first flew on 10 September 1944. The aircraft
were built at the Fairchild factory in Hagerstown, Maryland, with deliveries
beginning in 1945 and ending in September 1948.
Problems surfaced almost immediately as the aircraft was found to be
underpowered and its airframe inadequate for the heavy lifting it was intended
to perform. As a result, the Air Force turned to Fairchild for a solution to the
C-82's shortcomings. A redesign was quickly performed under the designation
XC-82B, which would overcome all of the C-82A's initial problems.
Role
Cargo and troop transport
National origin
United States
Manufacturer
Fairchild Aircraft
First flight
10 September 1944
Primary user
United States Army Air Forces
Produced
1944–1948
Number built
223
Developed into
C-119 Flying Boxcar
First flown in 1944, the first delivery was not until June 1945 and only a few
entered service before the end of the war. In the end, only 223 C-82As would be
built, a small number for a wartime production cargo aircraft. Most were used
for cargo and troop transport, although a few were used for paratroop operations
or towing military gliders. A redesign of the XC-82B would result in the
production of the C-119 Flying Boxcar.
In 1946, the United States Postal Service explored the concept of flying post
offices using highly modified C-82s which would operate similarly to those on
trains where mail would be sorted by clerks and put in bags and then transferred
to trucks on landing.
In 1948, a C-82 was fitted with track-gear landing gear, similar to the tracks
on a crawler tractor, that allowed landings on unpaved, primitive runways.
During the Berlin Blockade, five C-82 aircraft carried large disassembled
earthmoving equipment into the city to enable the construction of Berlin-Tegel
Airport in the fall of 1948.
Though relatively unsuccessful, the C-82A is best considered as an early
development stage of the much more successful C-119B Flying Boxcar. The C-82A
saw limited production before being replaced by the Flying Boxcar.
The C-82 was retired from the US Air Force inventory in 1954
After the C-82A became surplus to United States Air Force requirements, small
numbers were sold to civilian operators in Brazil, Chile, Mexico and the United
States and these were utilized for many years as rugged freight aircraft capable
of carrying bulky items of cargo. The last example was retired in the late
1980s.
Specifications (C-82A)
General characteristics
Crew: three
Capacity: 42 troops or 34 stretchers
Length: 77 ft 1 in (23.50 m)
Wingspan: 106 ft 5½ in (32.46 m)
Height: 26 ft 4 in (8.03 m)
Wing area: 1,400 ft² (130.1 m²)
Empty weight: 32,500 lb (14,773 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 54,000 lb (24,545 kg)
Powerplant: 2 × Pratt & Whitney R-2800-85 radials, 2,100 hp (1,567 kW) each
Performance
Maximum speed: 248 mph (216 knots, 399 km/h) at 17,500 ft (5,300 m)
Cruise speed: 218 mph (190 knots, 351 km/h) at 10,000 ft (3,050 m)
Range: 3,875 mi (3,370 nmi, 6,239 km)
Service ceiling: 21,200 ft (6,460 m)
Rate of climb: 950 ft/min (4.8 m/s)
Wing loading: 30 lb/ft² (146 kg/m²)
Power/mass: 0.10 hp/lb (0.16 kW/kg)
Popular culture
The C-82 is perhaps best known for its role in the 1964 novel, The Flight of the
Phoenix, and Robert Aldrich's original 1965 film version. Based on the novel by
Elleston Trevor, the story centers around a C-82A Packet operated by the
fictional Arabco Oil Company. It crashes in a Libyan desert, and is rebuilt by
the passengers and crew, using one tail boom, and is then flown to safety. Such
an aircraft was made for the movie and FAA airworthy certified. Paul Mantz,
possibly the greatest Hollywood stunt pilot in history with 25,000 logged hour
of flight, was killed when he bounced the skids of the craft down too hard in a
touch and go, with the cameras rolling, buckling and breaking the fuselage
behind the wing sending the crat nose down hard into the desert tumbling it
completely over at 90 MPH. over. Mantz was killed instantly.
Minor-league baseball namesake
In 1953, the local minor-league baseball team in Hagerstown, Maryland, was the
Hagerstown Braves, so called because they were a minor-league affiliate of the
major league Milwaukee Braves. The Hagerstown team switched affiliates to the
Washington Senators for the 1954 season. Instead of using the major league
nickname, they chose to be called the Hagerstown Packets in tribute to the C-82.
The Hagerstown Packets played in the Piedmont League during the 1954 and 1955
seasons.
*