C-82 FILMS & MEDIA
| MOTION PICTURES | |
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The Big Lift USA / 20th Century Fox / 1950 / black&white / 119 minutes Director: George Seaton Cast: Montgomery Clift, Paul Douglas, Cornell Borchers, Bruni Lobel, O.E. Hasse Synopsis: Drama of two pilots assigned to the Berlin Airlift and the two local women they meet. Actually filmed in Berlin during the real airlift of 1948-1949 with mostly Douglas C-54 Skymasters. C-82 content: One brief shot of a C-82 landing in fog as part of a radar approach sequence. One C-82 was used as a camera-ship for air-to-air aerial photography of C-54 Skymasters landing at Berlin airport. |
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Operation Haylift USA / Lippert Pictures / 1950 / black&white / 73 minutes Director: William Berke Cast: Bill Williams, Ann Rutherford, Tom Brown, Jane Nigh, Joe Sawyer Synopsis: Drama based on a real-life snow blizzard that crippled the US cattle industry in 1949 and the efforts of USAF crews to airdrop feed to live-stock. C-82 content: One C-82, CQ-050 (44-23050), was provided by the USAF for filming. All other C-82 footage is from newsreel images of the actual event. The film contains some good angles and low fly-bys of the Packet but being a low budget B-grader there is more drama on the ground than in the air. |
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Earth vs. the Flying Saucers USA / Columbia Pictures / 1956 / black&white / 83 minutes Director: Fred F. Sears Cast: Hugh Marlowe, Joan Taylor, Donald Curtis, Morris Ankrum, John Zaremba Synopsis: Classic 50's sci-fi film sees Earth invaded by "saucer men" and one scientist's efforts to stop them before its too late. C-82 content: One very brief shot of a C-82 during a military montage sequence, most likely an ex-USAF film library shot. |
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The Flight of the Phoenix USA / 20th Century Fox / 1965 / Color / 136 minutes Director: Robert Aldrich Cast: James Stewart, Richard Attenborough, Peter Finch, Hardy Kruger, Ernest Borgnine Synopsis: A C-82 Skytruck crashes in the Sahara Desert where upon the survivors fashion a make-shift aircraft, the Phoenix, from the wreckage in order to fly out. C-82 content: The ultimate C-82 movie!, flying scenes are sparse but theres a C-82 (albeit a wreck), in every shot from start to finish! Four Packets were provided to the film company by Steward-Davis. See under: The Flight of the Phoenix in the side menu for a detailed description of the aircraft in this film. |
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Beautiful Dreamer USA / Imageworks Entertainment Intl. / 2006 / Color / 87 minutes Director: Terri Farley-Teruel Cast: Brooke Langton, Colin Egglesfield, James Denton, Barry Corbin, Elise Jackson Synopsis: A B-24 pilot loses his memory on a harrowing mission into Germany and returns to the US with a new identity. His wife later finds out what happened and begins a search for him. C-82 content: From present information it appears a mock-up C-82 cockpit was built to simulate that of a B-24 Liberator! Trouble is the seats and other components appear to be genuine C-82 so this author is a bit stumped as to whether it's a film-set or a real aircraft? |
| DOCUMENTARIES | |
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Hagerstown: Remembering Our Aviation Heritage USA / 2005 / B&W-Color / 80 minutes Produced by the Hagerstown Aviation Museum in Maryland, USA where they are preserving Fairchild aircraft. "Collector's Edition" DVD features a bonus disc of original films and a CD-ROM. C-82 content: The C-82 section features many factory stills and footage of the XC-82 prototype, shots of original drawings and plans plus 8mm film footage from period air-shows including a fantastic C-82 fly-by. |
| PRINTED REFERENCES | |
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Fairchild Aircraft 1926-1987 by Kent A. Mitchell Narkiewicz-Thompson / 184 pages / 1997. The main and only really good reference to the history of Fairchild aircraft and the company behind them. Eight pages are dedicated to the C-82 Packet with rare photos and diagrams. Kent Mitchell is a Hagerstown resident and witnessed the maiden flight of the XC-82 prototype. This book is now quite rare and is considered a collector's item fetching reasonably high prices amongst book buyers and sellers. |
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Fairchild C82 Packet and C-119 Flying Boxcar by Alwyn T. Lloyd Aerofax (Midland Publishing) / 192 pages / 2005. The best C-82 reference book currently on the market is an excellent read with many diagrams, schematics, photos and reference tables. It is about 20% C-82 and 80% C-119. My advice - buy a copy as this will become a rare book some day. |
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1945-1946 Fairchild C-82 Sales Brochure A ten page brochure put out by Fairchild selling the C-82 Packets unique cargo features. Plenty of detail photos and a rare insight into the thinking of the time. |
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Pilot's Flight Operating Instructions: Fairchild C-82 Packet Short 62 page booklet published in 1945 goes into great detail about how to operate this aircraft with everything from great technical diagrams to detailed interior photos. Covers the XC-82 and first "Block" batches of the Packet. |
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USAF Handbook: Fairchild C-82A These handbook publications are an essential reference for any aircraft enthusiast as they have first-hand weight and performance figures plus all the other trimmings. For the C-82, try to obtain a 1954 edition as these encompass all the developments of the aircraft over it's career. |
| ADVERTISING MATERIAL | |
 Northern Air Cargo of Alaska brochure advertising the C-82A. |
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 Fairchild advertising leaflet, note the New York address for the corporate headquarters. |
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 Another leaflet used in magazine adverts. |
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