Fairchild C-82 Packet

{{Short description|American twin engine military transport aircraft built 1944-48}}  {{Infobox aircraft | name = C-82 Packet | image = File:C-82A Packet CQ-585.jpg | caption = C-82A Packet | type = Cargo and troop transport | national_origin = United States | manufacturer = [[Fairchild Aircraft]] | designer = | first_flight = 10 September [[1944 in aviation|1944]] | introduction = | retired = | status = | primary_user = [[United States Army Air Forces]] | more_users = | produced = 1944–1948 | number_built = 223 | unit cost = | developed_from = | developed_into = [[Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar]] | variants = }}

The '''C-82 Packet''' is a twin-engine, [[Twin-boom aircraft|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.

== Design and development == 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 Skytrain|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 (4.3 m) 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. 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.

== Operational history == The C-82A was first flown in 1944, with its initial delivery not until June 1945; as a result, only a few entered service before the end of the war. In the end, only 223 C-82As would be built, a small number relative to other wartime production cargo aircraft. Most were used for cargo and troop transport, although a few were deployed for [[Paratrooper|paratroop]] operations or towing [[military glider]]s.

Once in service, pilots found the C-82A to be severely underpowered, with poor visibility from the cockpit. With one engine out and while carrying a load, the aircraft could not maintain level flight, and this resulted in several crashes.<ref>[https://ruudleeuw.com/crash-c82-n208m-tom_hird.htm Hird, Tom, ''The Crash of Fairchild C-82 N208M'', retrieved 19 September 2025]</ref> A redesign rectifying the aircraft's main deficiencies, known as the C-82B, would eventually result in the [[Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar]] introduced in 1949.

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.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=7SADAAAAMBAJ&dq=popular+science+May+1946+%22mail+trains%22&pg=PA130 "Tomorrow's Mail Trains"]. ''Popular Science'', May 1946.</ref>

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.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=QCgDAAAAMBAJ&dq=popular+science+1930&pg=PA79 ''Popular Science'', August 1948, p. 79].</ref> The track gear proved unserviceable in operational use and was abandoned.

In January 1948, C-82As with the 62d Troop Carrier Group deployed from McChord AFB to the arctic during ''Project Yukon'', gaining valuable experience operating in an extreme cold weather environment.<ref> [https://mcchordairmuseum.org/REV%20B%20MAM%20COLLECTION%20C-82%20BORDER.htm McChord Air Museum Collection, ''Fairchild C-82A Packet'', retrieved 19 September 2025]</ref>

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.

While relatively unsuccessful and produced in small numbers, the C-82A served as a developmental precursor to the C-119 and [[Fairchild C-123 Provider]].

The C-82 was retired from the United States Air Force inventory in 1954.<ref>[http://www.mcchordairmuseum.org/REV%20B%20MAM%20COLLECTION%20C-82%20BORDER.htm "Fairchild C-82A Packet"]. McChord Air Museum. Retrieved: 24 August 2014.</ref>

<gallery widths=200 heights=160> File:Trans World Airlines Fairchild Packet Quackenbush.jpg|[[Trans World Airlines]] Jet-Packet 1600, with [[Westinghouse J30]]-W [[turbojet]] booster engine in pod above upper fuselage (1959) File:C-82 342-C-K-004082.jpg|[[M22 Locust]] light tank being loaded into C-82 File:Fairchild C-82A PP-CEK Cruzeiro SDU 08.05.72 edited-2.jpg|C-82A Packet freighter of Cruzeiro (Brasil) at [[Santos Dumont Airport]], Rio de Janeiro, in May 1972 File:Fairchild C-82A CC-CAE Taxpa Los Cer 22.04.72 edited-2.jpg|Packet of Taxpa Airlines (Chile) in 1972 File:Paratroopers jump from a C-82.jpg|C-82 Packet dropping U.S. Air Force paratroops in training exercise File:C-82.jpg|alt=C-82s and cargo|Three C-82s and various troops and cargo in 1948 File:Fairchild C-82 Packet USAF.jpg|U.S. Air Force C-82 Packet </gallery>

=== Civil airline operations === 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.

== Variants == ; XC-82 : Prototype, one built.<ref name="aerofiles Fair">[http://aerofiles.com/_fair.html "American Airplanes: Fairchild."] ''Aerofiles.com'', 11 December 2008. Retrieved: 11 October 2011.</ref>

; C-82A Packet : Initial production version, 220 built.<ref name="aerofiles Fair" />

; EC-82A : 1948, fitted with Firestone-designed tracked landing gear. 13 aircraft allocated for conversion from C-82A, but only one completed.<ref name="aerofiles Fair" /><ref name="C-82">Beck, Simon. [http://www.c82packet.com/index.html "C-82 Packet."] ''c82packet.com.'' Retrieved: 31 December 2013.</ref>

; XC-82B : 1947, fitted with 2650hp [[Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major]] radial engines as a precursor to the C-119 series. One converted from a C-82A.<ref name="aerofiles Fair" />

;C-82N : 1946, Production aircraft built by [[North American Aviation]]. Only three were completed, before the remaining 997 were cancelled.<ref name="aerofiles Fair" />

; Steward-Davis Jet-Packet 1600 : 1956, civil conversion of Fairchild C-82A with {{Convert|1600|lbf|kN}} [[Westinghouse J30]]-W [[turbojet]] booster engine in pod above upper fuselage. At least three converted.<ref name="aerofiles st">[http://aerofiles.com/_st.html "American airplanes: St - Sz: Steward-Davies"]. ''Aerofiles.com''. Retrieved 31 December 2013.</ref>

; Steward-Davis Jet-Packet 3200 : Conversion of Jet-Packet 1600 with two J30-W engines in above-fuselage pod. One converted in 1957.<ref name="aerofiles st" />

; Jet-Packet 3400 : Jet-Packet with a {{Convert|3250|lbf|kN|abbr=on}} [[Westinghouse J34|Westinghouse J34-WE-34]], or {{Convert|3400|lbf|kN|abbr=on}} [[Westinghouse J34|Westinghouse J34-WE-36]] booster engine. At least four converted from 1962.<ref name="aerofiles st" />

;Steward-Davis Jet-Packet II : Airframe weight reduction program to increase cargo weights and increased power from [[Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp|Pratt & Whitney R-2800CB-16]] engines. Application applied to at least three Jet-Packet 1600s or 3400s, including the [[Trans World Airlines|TWA]] C-82A ''Ontos''.<ref name="aerofiles st" />

; Steward-Davis Skytruck I : 1964, C-82A aircraft with {{Cvt|60000|lb}} takeoff weight, improved performance and a hot-air de-icing system, one converted. The Skytruck brand-name was allegedly the inspiration for [[Elleston Trevor]]'s Skytruck in the 1964 novel, ''[[The Flight of the Phoenix (novel)|The Flight of the Phoenix]]''.

; Steward-Davis Skypallet : 1965 A C-82A redesign with the fuselage floor separating from the aircraft from nose to tail for large cargoes and the installation of an internal hoist. Only one aircraft was converted.<ref name="aerofiles st" />

== Operators == [[File:Operators of C82.jpg|thumb|Former Operators of Fairchild C-82 Packet]] ; {{Flagu|Brazil}} * [[Brazilian Air Force]]—the Primeiro Grupo de Transporte de Tropa (1st Troop Transport Group) operated C-82s of 1956–1969<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j5lBDwAAQBAJ&q=primeiro+grupo+de+transporte+de+tropa+C-82+planes&pg=PA284|title=Fairchild C-82 Packet: The Military and Civil History|isbn=9781476669755|last1=Beck|first1=Simon D.|date=15 November 2017|publisher=McFarland }}</ref> * [[Serviços Aéreos Cruzeiro do Sul]] ; {{Flagu|Chile}} * Linea Aerea Taxpa Ltda ; {{HND}} * [[Honduran Air Force]] ; {{Flagu|Mexico}} * [[Mexicana de Aviación (1921–2010)|Compania Mexicana de Aviacion]] (CMA) ; {{Flagu|United States}} * [[MarkAir|Interior Airways]] * [[Trans World Airlines]]—Used for transporting replacement engines * [[United States Army Air Forces]]

== Surviving aircraft == ; Brazil * 45-57783 – C-82A stored at [[Eduardo Gomes International Airport]] in [[Manaus]]. The aircraft is in poor condition.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Airframe Dossier - Fairchild C-82A Packet, s/n 45-57783 USAAF, c/n 10153, c/r PP-CEL|url=http://aerialvisuals.ca/AirframeDossier.php?Serial=81726|website=Aerial Visuals|publisher=AerialVisuals.ca|access-date=23 January 2017}}</ref> * 48-0585 – C-82A stored at the [[Museu Aeroespacial]] at [[Afonsos Air Force Base|Campo dos Afonsos]] in [[Rio de Janeiro]]. It is an ex-Brazilian Air Force aircraft.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Airframe Dossier - FairchildC-82 Packet / C-119 Flying Boxcar, s/n 2202 FABr|url=http://aerialvisuals.ca/AirframeDossier.php?Serial=70370|website=Aerial Visuals|publisher=AerialVisuals.ca|access-date=23 January 2017}}</ref>

; United States * 44-22991 – C-82A fuselage only in storage in the Walter Soplata Collection in [[Newbury Center, Ohio]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Airframe Dossier - FairchildC-82 Packet / C-119 Flying Boxcar, s/n 44-22991 USAAF, c/n 10035|url=http://aerialvisuals.ca/AirframeDossier.php?Serial=74186|website=Aerial Visuals|publisher=AerialVisuals.ca|access-date=23 January 2017}}</ref> * 44-23006 – C-82A on static display at the [[Pima Air & Space Museum]] in [[Tucson, Arizona]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=PACKET|url=http://www.pimaair.org/aircraft-by-name/item/fairchild-c-82a-packet|website=Pima Air & Space Museum|publisher=Pimaair.org|access-date=23 January 2017|archive-date=2 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202005502/http://www.pimaair.org/aircraft-by-name/item/fairchild-c-82a-packet|url-status=dead}}</ref> * 45-57814 – Steward-Davis Jet-Packet 3400 on static display at the Hagerstown Aviation Museum in [[Hagerstown, Maryland]]. This aircraft under the registration N9701F was used by TWA. The aircraft was flown to the airport on 15 October 2006, marking the world's last flight of a C-82.<ref>{{Cite web|title=1948 Fairchild C-82A Packet "Flying Boxcar"|url=http://www.hagerstownaviationmuseum.org/museumaircraft/1945fairchildc82.html|website=Hagerstown Aviation Museum|access-date=23 January 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161113034227/http://www.hagerstownaviationmuseum.org/museumaircraft/1945fairchildc82.html|archive-date=13 November 2016}}</ref> * 48-0574 – C-82A on static display at the [[McChord Field|McChord Air Museum]] at [[McChord Field]] in [[Tacoma, Washington]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=FAIRCHILD C-82A PACKET|url=http://www.mcchordairmuseum.org/REV%20B%20MAM%20COLLECTION%20C-82%20BORDER.htm|website=McChord Air Museum|publisher=The McChord Air Museum Foundation|access-date=23 January 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Airframe Dossier& - Fairchild C-82A Packet, s/n 48-0574 USAAF, c/r N4753C|url=http://aerialvisuals.ca/AirframeDossier.php?Serial=16904|website=Aerial Visuals|publisher=AerialVisuals.ca|access-date=23 January 2017}}</ref> * 48-0581 – C-82A on static display at the [[National Museum of the United States Air Force]] at [[Wright-Patterson Air Force Base]] near [[Dayton, Ohio]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Fairchild C-82 Packet|url=https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/195679/fairchild-c-82-packet/|website=National Museum of the US Air Force|access-date=23 January 2017|date=7 June 2016}}</ref> This airframe was also previously owned & operated by [[Northern Air Cargo]] under the [[aircraft registration|Registration Number]]: N4752C{{cn|date=April 2026}}

<gallery widths=200 heights=160> File:Fairchild C-82 Packet June 2016.jpg|On display at the [[National Museum of the United States Air Force]] File:FAIRCHILD C-82A PACKET.jpg|48-0574 at [[McChord AFB]] </gallery>

== Specifications (C-82A) == [[File:Fairchild C-82A Packet 3-view silhouette drawing.png|frameless|right|3-view line drawing of the Fairchild C-82A Packet]]

{{Aircraft specs |prime units?=imp | ref=United States Military Aircraft Since 1909<ref name="Swan Mil p265">Swanborough and Bowers 1963, p. 265.</ref> & ''American Military Transport Aircraft Since 1925''{{sfn|Johnson|2013|p=142}} | crew=three | capacity=42 troops ''or'' 34 stretchers ''or'' {{cvt|18000|lb|t|2}} cargo | length ft= 77 | length in= 1 | length m= | span ft= 106 | span in=5+1/2 | span sigfig=4 | height ft= 26 | height in= 4 | height m= | wing area sqft= 1,400 | wing area sigfig=4 | empty weight lb= 32,500 | empty weight kg= | gross weight lb=50000 | gross weight note=<ref name="jawa48p259c">Bridgman 1948, p. 259c</ref> | max takeoff weight lb= 54,000 | max takeoff weight kg= |fuel capacity={{convert|2600|USgal|impgal L|abbr=on}}<ref name="jawa48p259c"/> | eng1 name= [[Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp|Pratt & Whitney R-2800]]-85 | eng1 type=18-cylinder, two-row [[radial engine]]s | eng1 number=2 | eng1 hp= 2,100 | eng1 kw= |prop blade number=3 |prop name=[[Hamilton Standard]] Hydromatic |prop dia ft=15 |prop dia in=2 |prop dia note=<ref name="jawa48p259c"/> | max speed mph=248 | max speed kts= | max speed kmh= | max speed note=at {{convert|17500|ft|m|abbr=on}} | cruise speed mph= 218 | cruise speed kts= | cruise speed kmh= | cruise speed note=at {{convert|10,000|ft|m|-1|abbr=on}} |stall speed mph=85 |stall speed note=with full flaps<ref name="jawa48p259c"/> | range miles= 3,875 | range nmi= | range km= | ceiling ft= 21,200 | ceiling m= | climb rate ftmin= 950 | climb rate ms= | wing loading lb/sqft= | wing loading kg/m2= |power/mass= | more performance= *'''Takeoff distance to 50 ft (15m):''' {{convert|1100|yd|ft m|abbr=on}} *'''Landing distance from 50 ft (15 m):''' {{convert|625|yd|ft m|abbr=on}} }}

== Popular culture == [[File:Fairchild C-82A N53228 Film LGB 17.10.70.jpg|thumb|right|Fairchild C-82A N53228 painted in the markings of the fictional ''Arabco Oil Company'' for the 1965 film ''[[The Flight of the Phoenix (1965 film)|The Flight of the Phoenix]]'', seen here in 1970]]

The C-82 is perhaps best known for its role in the 1964 novel ''[[The Flight of the Phoenix (novel)|The Flight of the Phoenix]]'', and [[Robert Aldrich]]'s original [[The Flight of the Phoenix (1965 film)|1965 film version]]. Based on the novel by [[Elleston Trevor]], the story features a C-82A Packet operated by the fictional ''Arabco Oil Company''. It crashes in the 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, the [[Tallmantz Phoenix P-1]]. It was certified airworthy by the [[Federal Aviation Administration]]. [[Paul Mantz]], possibly the greatest Hollywood stunt pilot in history with 25,000 flight hours, was killed with the cameras rolling when he bounced the skids of the craft down too hard in a touch-and-go, buckling and breaking the fuselage behind the wing, sending the craft nose-down hard into the desert, tumbling it completely over at 90 mph. Mantz was killed instantly.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.century-of-flight.net/hollywoods-stunt-pilots/|title=Hollywood's Stunt Pilots: A Short History of the Earliest Aerial Stuntmen|first=Rob|last=V|date=October 30, 2019}}</ref>

=== 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 [[Atlanta Braves#Milwaukee (1953–1965)|Milwaukee Braves]]. The Hagerstown team switched affiliation to the [[History of the Washington Senators (1901–1960)|Washington Senators]] for the 1954 season. Instead of using the major league nickname, they chose the name [[Hagerstown Owls#1954-1955: Hagerstown Packets|Hagerstown Packets]] in tribute to the C-82.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Packets Selected as Nickname|newspaper=The Morning Herald|date=December 23, 1953|location=Hagerstown, Maryland}}</ref> The Hagerstown Packets played in the [[Piedmont League]] during the 1954 and 1955 seasons.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Hagerstown, Maryland Minor League History|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/team.cgi?city=Hagerstown&state=MD&country=US|access-date=November 24, 2014|work=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref>

== See also == {{Aircontent| | related= *[[Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar]] *[[Fairchild XC-120 Packplane]] | similar aircraft= *[[Armstrong Whitworth AW.660 Argosy]] *[[Fairchild C-123 Provider]] *[[Gotha Go 244]] *[[Nord Noratlas]] | lists= | see also= }}

== References == === Notes === {{Reflist}}

=== Bibliography === * Bridgman, Leonard. ''Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1948''. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company. * {{Cite book |last=Johnson |first=E. R. |date=2013 |title=American Military Transport Aircraft Since 1925 |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |publisher=McFarland & Company |isbn=978-0-7864-6269-8}} * Lloyd, Alwyn T. ''Fairchild C-82 Packet and C-119 Flying Boxcar''. Hinckley, UK: Aerofax, 2005. {{ISBN|1-85780-201-2}}. * Swanborough, F. G. and Peter M. Bowers. ''United States Military Aircraft Since 1909'' (1st ed.). London: Putnam, 1963.

== External links == {{Commons category|Fairchild C-82 Packet}} * [https://books.google.com/books?id=ht8DAAAAMBAJ&dq=popular+mechanic+antitank+1941&pg=PA16 "Super Size Freighter Resembles P-38 Fighter"], ''Popular Mechanics'', March 1944; first illustration of C-82 released to public—bottom half of p. 16 * [http://www.c82packet.com/civilhistory.html C-82 packet]

[[Category:1940s United States military transport aircraft|Fairchild C-082 Packet]] [[Category:Aircraft first flown in 1944]] [[Category:Aircraft with retractable tricycle landing gear]] [[Category:Fairchild aircraft|C-082]] [[Category:Hagerstown, Maryland]] [[Category:High-wing aircraft]] [[Category:Twin-boom aircraft]] [[Category:Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft]]