“Developed by Fairchild, the C-82 was designed as a heavy-lift cargo aircraft to succeed pre-war designs like the Curtiss C-46 Commando and Douglas C-47 Dakota. The aircraft was designed for a number of roles, including cargo carrier, troop transport, ambulance airplane and glider tow. The single prototype first flew on September 10, 1944. The aircraft were built at the Fairchild factory in Hagerstown, Maryland, with deliveries beginning in late 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 designed 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. First flown in 1947, the XC-82B would go into production as the C-119B Flying Boxcar. In the end only 223 C-82A would be built, a very small number for a production cargo aircraft. Most were used for cargo and troop transport, although a few were used for paratroop operations or towing gliders. During its brief operational life several C-82 Packets were utilized during the Berlin Airlift, primarily bringing assembled vehicles into the city.
Though itself unsuccessful, the C-82A is best considered as an early development stage of the C-119B Flying Boxcar which saw limited production.
Fifty three C-82A were procured by the United States Navy, though they too were quickly replaced by the Navy version of the C-119B Flying Boxcar.”
General characteristics
* Crew: three
* Capacity: 42 paratroops or 34 stretchers
* Length: 77 ft 1 in (23.50 m)
* Wingspan: 106 ft 6 in (32.47 m)
* Height: 26 ft 4 in (8.03 m)
* Wing area: 1,400 ft² (130.9 m²)
* Empty weight: 16,530 lb (12,045 kg)
* Useful load: 42,000 lb (19,050 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: 250 mph (400 km/h)
* Range: 2,140 miles (3,424 km)
* Service ceiling 27,000 ft (8,232 m)
* Rate of climb: 1,600 ft/min (488 m/min)
* Wing loading: 30 lb/ft² (146 kg/m²)
* Power/mass: 0.10 hp/lb (0.16 kW/kg
“The Air Force C-119 and Navy R4Q was initially a redesign of the earlier Fairchild C-82 Packet, built between 1945 and 1948. The Packet provided service to the Air Force’s Tactical Air Command and Military Air Transport Service for nearly nine years during which time its design was found to have several serious problems. All of these were addressed in the C-119.
In contrast to the C-82, the cockpit was moved forward to fit flush with the nose rather than its previous location over the cargo compartment. This resulted in more usable cargo space and larger loads than the C-82 could accommodate. The C-119 also featured more powerful engines, and a wider and stronger airframe. The first C-119 prototype (called the XC-82B) first flew in November 1947, with deliveries of C-119Bs from Fairchild’s Hagerstown, Maryland factory beginning in December 1949.”
General characteristics
* Crew: 5
* Capacity: 62 troops or 35 stretchers
* Payload: 10,000 lb (4,500 kg) of cargo
* Length: 86 ft 6 in (26.37 m)
* Wingspan: 109 ft 3 in (33.30 m)
* Height: 26 ft 6 in (8.08 m)
* Wing area: 1,447 ft² (134.4 m²)
* Empty weight: 40,000 lb (18,000 kg)
* Loaded weight: 64,000 lb (29,000 kg)
* Max takeoff weight: 74,000 lb (34,000 kg)
* Powerplant: 2× Pratt & Whitney R-4360-20 radial engines, 3,500 hp (2,611 kW each) each
* ** Alternate powerplant: 2× Wright R-3350-85 “Cyclone” radials, 2,500 hp (1,900 kW) each
Performance
* Maximum speed: 296 mph (257 knots, 450 km/h)
* Range: 2,280 mi (1,980 nm, 3,670 km)
* Service ceiling 23,900 ft (7,290 m)
* Rate of climb: 1,010 ft/min (5.1 m/s)
* Wing loading: 44 lb/ft² (216 kg/m²)
* Power/mass: 0.11 hp/lb (180 W/kg)
“The last flyable C-82A had been owned and operated by Hawkins & Powers Aviation, an aerial firefighting company located in Greybull, Wyoming. This plane was purchased at auction by the Hagerstown Aviation Museum in Hagerstown, Maryland. The aircraft was flown to the Hagerstown Regional Airport on October 15, 2006.[1] This marks the last flight of a C-82. The plane will remain on display at the HRA until a dedicated space for it is made available in a future museum building to be built near the original Fairchild Manufacturing Facility. The fate of two additional incomplete C-82A (civil registration N5102B and N8009E) at the Greybull site is uncertain.”
C-82
C-119
C-119 with a 3,400 lbf Westinghouse J34 turbojet engine in a nacelle above the fuselage.
Bager,
disagree with what? that LSFM was not responsive enough?
No, with the statement that I quoted.
1. There was plenty of warning that the storm would come ashore near or at Galveston… I gave data supporting this.
2. The storm did not change direction “with very little notice”. Here is the track from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, showing no sudden direction changes, just a long, gradual sweep: http://www.noaawatch.gov/2008/ike.php
In my opinion, the only thing LSFM could have done better was to have reinforced the building sides (including erecting a diversion barrier to reduce the impact force of the surge)… but this needed to have been done long before Ike ever formed, as it would take quite a while to do.
In the situation, they used their several-days warning to evacuate all flyable aircraft, and to do what they could with the remaining exhibits… which was not all that much, considering the very large storm surge.
My friend hasn’t gotten back to me with word of how his apartment fared (but he DID call as he was going to work the evening of the 15th), but since it was just north of the intersection of 330 & 146, I expect it got a lot of water.
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