SUBSEQUENT FAIRCHILD AIRCRAFT

| The following is a summary of Fairchild aircraft developed since the
production of the C-82 Packet. Although the Packet was built in relatively small numbers, it's descendent, the C-119 Flying Boxcar became a major cargo transport for the USAF and put Hagerstown on the aviation map as the Boxcar Plant. It also represents the last original Fairchild designed product to be built in Hagerstown. All aircraft since the Boxcar have been developed from Fairchild acquired companies or built under license from other aircraft manufacturers. Several minor aircraft Fairchild were involved with in some capacity were the Fairchild-Hiller FH-1100 helicopter (1966, 254 built to 1971), the popular Fairchild-Swearingen Metroliner (1971, 1000+ built) and Fairchild-Republic T-46A jet-trainer (1985, 3 built). |
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| C-119 Flying Boxcar | |||
| Fairchild Model: 110 | Year | Variant | Total |
| First Flight: December 17, 1947 | 1948 | C-119B | 55 |
| Production Period: 1948 - 1955 | 1949 | R4Q-1 | 39 |
| Last Flight: September 27, 1975 | 1950 | C-119C | 311 |
| 1952 | C-119F | 238 | |
| 1952 | R4Q-2 | 58 | |
| 1953 | C-119G | 484 | |
| Total: 1185 | |||
| Developed from the C-82 Packet via the XC-82B (XC-119A) prototype of
1947, the much improved C-119 still bore the same railway style boxcar fuselage and twin-boom tail design. The definitive variant was the C-119G which incorporated all the refinements of the previous versions including a few new ones. 71 C-119F aircraft were built by Kaiser-Frazer Corp. in Michigan and many were sold to overseas air forces both new and second hand. The C-119 served well in the civilian role as well, many featuring the Steward-Davis J34-WE jet-pak. Significant conversions and prototypes were the XC-120 Packplane (1950), YC-119H Skyvan (1952) and Vietnam era AC-119G / K Gunships (1968). |
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![]() Fairchild C-119G Flying Boxcar in civil service, msn: 10955. Photo: Manolo Aldana 2003. |
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| C-123 Provider | |||
| Base Aircraft: Chase CG-18 / C-122 Avitruc & XCG-20 / XC-123 | Year | Variant | Total |
| Fairchild Model: 205 | 1953 | C-123B | 302 |
| First Flight: September 1, 1954 | 1957 | YC-123H | 1 |
| Production Period: 1953 - 1958 | Total: 303 | ||
| Originally designed in 1943 as a World War II assault glider by the
Chase Aircraft Co. Much development took place until eventually a piston-engined version flew in 1949 as the XC-123. Kaiser-Frazer brought out Chase in late 1952 intending to put the C-123 into full production. With their poor C-119F production record and some political intervention, K-M lost their C-123 contract to Fairchild in 1953 along with the C-119F - one which Fairchild completed as 88 C-119G aircraft. Five C-123B Providers had been built already but Fairchild refined the design and went on to built 302 C-123B Providers and one YC-123H prototype. They later performed 183 conversions in 1966 as the definitive C-123K with under-wing jet-pods. The C-123 also had a successful civil career. |
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![]() Fairchild C-123K Provider in civil service, msn: 20158. Photo: Graham Robson 1996. |
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| F-27 / FH-227 Friendship | |||
| Base Aircraft: Fokker F.27 Friendship | Year | Variant | Total |
| First Flight: April 12, 1958 | 1958 | F-27 | 129 |
| Production Period: 1958 - 1968 | 1966 | FH-227 | 78 |
| Total: 207 | |||
| The turboprop powered Dutch built Fokker F.27 short-haul airliner first
few in 1954 and went on to become one of the success stories of the airliner market of the 1950s and 60s. Fairchild expressed early interest in producing the aircraft under license for Western hemisphere operators and gained production rights in 1956, the first Hagerstown F-27 flying in 1958. Six variants followed with various engine and seating differences for the total of 129 as the F-27 / A / B / F / J / M. Fairchild acquired Hiller Helicopters Corp. in 1964 as the Fairchild-Hiller Corp. and had been developing a stretched version of the Friendship as the FH-227 (Fairchild Model 538), with a 6-foot extension forward of the wings. The first of 78 flew in 1966 and five variants were produced as the FH-227 / B / C / D / E. |
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![]() Fairchild-Hiller FH-227B Friendship, msn: 559. Photo: Richard Vandervord 1981. |
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| PC-6 / AU-23A Peacemaker | |||
| Base Aircraft: Pilatus PC-6 Turbo-Porter | Year | Variant | Total |
| First Flight: 1966 | 1966 | PC-6 | 57 |
| Production Period: 1966 - 1976 | 1971 | AU-23A | 36 |
| Total: 93 | |||
| Fairchild acquired the rights to build the Swiss Pilatus PC-6
Turbo-Porter in Hagerstown in 1964 but modifying them to use both US and Canadian turboprop engines. 57 were were sold to civil operators, many going to CIA owned Air America Inc. which found the STOL characteristics an advantage in South East Asia. Fairchild later built 36 under the USAF designation AU-23A for delivery to Thailand as armed counter-insurgency aircraft. |
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![]() Fairchild PC-6/B2-H2 Turbo-Porter, msn: 2026. Photo: David Lednicer 2006. |
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| A-10 Thunderbolt II | |||
| First Flight: May 10, 1972 | Year | Variant | Total |
| Production Period: 1972 - 1984 | 1972 | YA-10 | 2 |
| 1973 | YA-10A | 6 | |
| 1975 | A-10A | 707 | |
| Total: 715 | |||
| In 1965 Fairchild acquired the Republic Aviation Corp. which by 1972 had
become the Fairchild-Republic Co. of parent company Fairchild Industries Inc. Republic was famous for it's line of ground-attack fighter aircraft in the Thunderbolt series, namely the P-47, F-84 and F-105. When the USAF required a new attack aircraft Fairchild submitted a new prototype as the A-10 Thunderbolt II, named in honour of the World War II P-47. Success followed for Fairchild who went on to built a total of 715 A-10 aircraft, much better known as the Warthog, the last of which was delivered to the USAF in 1984. This year also marked the last one for aircraft production at Hagerstown, the plant was subsequently closed and sold off, Fairchild left the aviation business altogether in 1987. The A-10 continues in service today with the USAF currently upgrading 356 as the A-10C. |
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![]() Fairchild-Republic A-10A Thunderbolt II, s/n: 79-0123. Photo: Paul Santos 2008. |
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