Fairchild C-82 Packet

Sergio, e-mail, 22.07.2017 18:36 Hi. Do you know where i find main landing gear tire for c-82? Thanks reply

David Reeve, e-mail, 19.07.2017 06:45 My first large aircraft flying job was copilot for Al Mosley on N8009E. My checkout was how to check the oil in the pair of jet engines mounted on top of the fuselage, how to start and run them, and how to go into the cabin and operate the emergency gear extension. We then went flying and my main contribution was VFR navigation in the south half of Alaska as Al was only familiar with flying north out of Fairbanks. I pointed him in the right direction several times and was rewarded with many takeoffs and landings. We hauled primarily oil exploration equipment as this was the oil boom of 1963. Al grossed the aircraft at 54,000 lbs (+) and assured me the jets would keep us airborne at these weights as long as the gas would last (jets burned 600gal /hr). Fortunately he never had to show me this and we just used the jets for heavy weight takeoffs. It was easy to fly and I loved the large cockpit. what an experience for an 18 year old. reply

Don Simpson, e-mail, 12.10.2015 03:46 I first flew this beast while in the 7th Geodetic Squadron based at Mountain Home Idaho. Nobody I ever met had kind words for it as it was constantly having mechanical problems. On one takeoff the entire instrument panel came loose on top and fell down across our knees. The squadron kept moving but on one takeoff from Barksdale we had the left engine catch fire and had to belly it in off the runway. The wing, being full of fuel crushed the passenger compartment killing one passenger. My next assignment was to Flight A 5th Air Rescue Squadron based at BW-1 Greenland. To my horror they had one and in view of my experience I was given most of the missions in it. On one flight to Newfoundland the oil system malfunctioned and began syphoning the oil from one engine to the other which was already full. We spent the entire six hour flight pumping it back with a hand pump. In the early sixties I was teaching ROTC in Greenville NC and keeping current at Seymour-Johnson. They had a couple of C-123's which had all the problems of the C-82 and a few of its own. I'm glad that Fairchild quit making airplanes as it clearly was not their area of expertise. reply

Steve, e-mail, 05.04.2015 22:57 Steve 5 /4 /15 I lived in Godfrey, Illinois in the 1950s; I was just a kid. At times my neighborhood was on the flight path for Scott AFB--the MATS HQ base. On one beautiful sunny day (year unknown) I was treated to a show. One by one, about every 15 minutes at least 6 twin boom cargo plans banked in front of me and (supposedly) began their approach to Scott Field. It was a site to see! I was enthralled! I have loved air planes ever since. Those planes moved so slowly, and so gracefully, they seemed to float in the air. Each plane was in view for ages! For years I assumed that they were "Flying Boxcars" until I did some research & saw a picture of a C-119. IT looked too modern! The planes I saw were WW-II era equipment; that's why I was so fascinated!! Then I learned about the C-82. Now that is what I saw. It must have been the "Packets" that I saw in 1954 as they were cruising into Scott AFB for their retirement. I was only 7 years old. It sure made an impression. I joined the USAF in 1970... Is it possible that I saw the retirement flight of the C-82s before they went to the "boneyards" of the California /Arizona deserts?? Their flight sure was a great "recruiting tool"; I will never forget that beautiful sunny day & those noisy, yet graceful, birds!! Thanks Steve reply

Shawn Murphy, e-mail, 29.12.2014 08:43 I lived in Bethel, Ak. from 1980 until 1983. During that time I managed the Bethel Station for Northern Air Freight a freight forwarder. During that time we used Wien Air Alaska and then A.I.A to haul our freight. We also used Sea Airmotive and Northern Air Cargo. On two occasions I flew with Casey in the C-82, once a round trip from Bethel to Hooper Bay and back. Another time I hopped on board for a trip to Anchorage. Both times he allowed me in the right seat for the controls a real experience for this history loving single engine Cessna jock. In retirement in Arizona I've lost contact with all I once knew but I've never lost my love for Alaska and the great experiences I once had in my life. Stay safe and enjoy each and every experience! reply

Ross, e-mail, 15.04.2014 04:10 What exactly is meant by the word "Packet" as in C-82 Packet ? Thank You, Ross reply

Clint Meadway, e-mail, 05.01.2013 04:46 Newt, Jerry and Bert Ball operated a C-82 out of Dillingham, AK from the late 1970s to mid 80s. They bought it in Long Beach, CA, and rebuilt it for use in their fishing business. It had a jet booster on top of the fuselage that operated on avgas. That bird had no trouble getting airborne with a maximum load. Challenging but fun to fly. reply

Gary Blackmore, e-mail, 27.05.2012 10:41 Great to see Darrell Frank's comments above on this website. I'm still flying today but in a stable great flying powerfull jet with incredbile RNP navigation. I'm not a "real Pilot" anymore compared to the C-82 years. The "Boxcar" as we used to call the Packet at Northern Air Cargo in the 70's was pure 40's navigation and technology. I have all the respect in the world for those pilots who flew this aircraft before us!!! 52C and 53C were "Restricted Category" aircraft in civilian use with Northern Air Cargo due to their unstable flight characteristics. For example, 45 degress opposite airleron on a circling approach at night in the bush to hold bank angle and not roll over on your back. We attempted to keep the load to no more than 48,000 pounds even though the gross weight was 54,000. Bobby Sholton, Maurie Carslon, and Casey had proved on one engine that you could fly at that weight, but barely. Nose wheel steering was not an option on the C-82, and the negative angle of attack of the wing on the take off roll made the rotation most interesting, especially on that first take off! Pilot's learned "attitude flying" in a hurry with the C-82.Cruise speed for us was 150mph, one gallon a mile, fuel gages always burnt out and the broom handle dip stick was our one and only favorite fuel gage. My all time favorite airplane!!! reply

Darrell Frank, e-mail, 13.11.2010 07:26 I Flew the C-82 in Alaska for 6 years with Northern Air Cargo. We operated two of them. N4752C & N4753C. 52C has returned to the Air Force and is now in Dayton, OH at the AF museum. Great Air Craft. I had a lot of fun with it. reply

patrick nolan, e-mail, 16.10.2010 01:41 My dad was Assistant Division Signal Officer of the 82abn Div-1946-1950.I always assumed that his jump photos were all C119s, but since these didn't begin to be delivered util late '49,I guess alot of them are of C-82s. reply

Al Simpkins, e-mail, 10.07.2010 18:45 I was the line maintenace chief in Eschborn Germany in 1944 when the C 82 landed on our steel mat runway after several go arounds due to the green light, "gear down" light did not come on. They landed safely and the Fairchild engineers on board asked if I could do a landing gear check to see if there was a problem other than the light not coming on. As I recall (65 years ago) they said it was the second C 82 flying and they were doing a performance flight. My B 17 jacks were too short to reach the C82 wings so I collected railroad ties nearby and built a platform to put the jacks on with a crane. This worked, and we jacked the plane up and did a landing gear cycle which worked fine and we determined the problem was wiring or the light itself. Overall it was a great experience and I still have photos of that day. I wish they could find one to put in the WW2 museum in New Orleans of which I am a charter member. Former Sgt. Al Simpkins, Army and US Airforce. reply

Keith Smith, e-mail, 27.02.2010 20:32 A graduate of the first USAF Pilot Training Class (47-C), I was assigned to the 316th Troop Carrier Group (75th TCS) along with about 50 of my class mates. The three squadrons of the 316th TCG at Greenville Air Base, SC (36th, 37th and 75th squadrons) flew the newly assigned C-82. It was a relatively easy plane for us to transition into as we had flown the B-25 in advanced at Barksdale Field. Empty, it handled very much like the B-25, except for the fact that upon touchdown, one could not hold the nose wheel off very long, as the elevators would stall and the nose wheel would drop uncontrollably onto the runway. The cockpit was very roomy -- much too roomy really as the pilot and copilot sat over two feet from the side windows, which made it difficult to track over the ground when making parachute drops. This fault was corrected in the C-119 which followed as the wide cockpit was made more narrow and windows were cut low on the sides of the cockpit to allow a better pilot visibility for drops. During my 15 months with the 75th TCS, the 316th TCG racked up a pretty bad record as far as engine failures were concerned. This was bad from two aspects: the plane was a poor performer on one engine when loaded; and there was a design error in the propeller feathering system. The design incorporated a hard stainless steel line from the feathering pump to the propeller governor. Engine vibration caused the governor to crack where the line entered the governor. If this crack was not detected, the high pressure oil used to feather the propeller would pop the line from the governor and propeller feathering was then impossible. Once this failure was verified, the line was changed to a flexible one and the problem was solved. The 75th TCS had one fatal accident while I was there when a C-82 experienced double engine failure while in the traffic pattern. This accident took the lives of five men, as I recall. The plane was easy to load and we carried many large pieces of equipment. Many times the loads would make exit from the plane difficult for the crew, but fortunately emergency exit was not required during my tenure with the 316th. The fuel system was very complex and used electric remotely controlled valves, which malfunctioned frequently. Also, the fuel quantity indicators were of a new electronic design, which had many bugs and were not fully accepted by the pilots. I know of one fatal accident initiated by a fuel system malfunction, but was judged to be pilot error as he failed to make the correct decision after the system failure. Besides hauling bulky loads, our group supported the airborne operations at Fort Bragg and Fort Benning, where we made training parachute drops. The 316th TCG had two squadrons with glider echelons. A squadron had 18 planes, as I recall and a glider echelon had 36 gliders. The Group established a glider school to provide a supply of glider pilots since all the war-time glider pilots had been grounded. All "company grade" (captains and below) pilots were required to check out in gliders. Therefore, we conducted glider training almost daily. The C-82 could easily tow two loaded gliders, provided that the plane was not loaded down with heavy on board cargo. A feature of the C-82 not described in the general write-up above, was its ability to rapidly drop bags of supplies to support ground operations. The plane had a "bomb bay" like opening in the center of the fuselage. Inside the cargo comparative was a cargo delivery system comprising a move able cable suspended on pulleys. The cable was powered by a motor. Large canvas bags packed with supplies were suspended on the cable and constrained from swinging by a large canvas wall surrounding the suspended bags. At the press of a button, the motor began pulling the cable which was in a circular loop. As each bag was pulled over the open bomb bay doors, the fastener holding the bag would release the bag, which dropped through the bomb bay. In all, there must have been over a dozen supply bags on the cable. These would all have been dropped in a matter of a few seconds. This allowed the supplies to be grouped very closely together when they landed. Much closer than would be the case if they had been kicked out manually. However, as with many other things on the plane, this design had not been fully tested and we had many failures in its operation. Another mission of the C-82 was laying telephone cable. A large reel of telephone wire was placed in the cargo compartment. A drogue chute and a weight were placed on the free end which was thrown out of the plane at a specified location. The phone line would play out and when the weighed chute reached the ground a phone could be hooked to it and it was even possible to talk to the airborne crew before all the wire was laid. The C-82 could drop troops rapidly as they could exit both sides of the plane at the same time. This was not possible when using its predecessors, the C-47 or C-46. Ho ... reply

Eddie Stough, e-mail, 22.02.2010 21:06 Mechanic /Crewchief C-82 at Lawson Field, Ft. Benning, Ga. 1947-1948, Quite a jump from the C-47. reply

Don Rupp, SMS {RET}, e-mail, 12.02.2010 19:23 I flew as a crew chief on the C-182 out of Harmon field NFLD , in the early 50's,most of the supply missions we flew were to the even farther north. We never lost an engine in flt during my tenure. The cabin was kinda cold , if you had to ride there, but we always got there. This was the 6614th Air Transport Squadron, Northeast Air Command. The 182's were later replaced with C-119's, there we did lose a couple engines in flt, they were R-3350 P R T type. reply

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