Top: On the ground at HGR. Bottom: Last flIght over downtown Hagerstown 10/15/06. (Photo credit: Ric Dugan / Herald Mail)

'Flying Boxcar' back home
Plane built in Hagerstown makes return landing
by KAREN HANNA  karenh@herald-mail.com

HAGERSTOWN - A plane that took to the skies just as World War II was ending received a hero's welcome Sunday, as officials paid tribute to Hagerstown's aviation history.

Two vintage aircraft escorted the last flight of a C-82 "Flying Boxcar," a huge tractor-trailer truck of an airplane designed to haul troops and equipment. The plane tilted its wings in a wave and scattered ball caps and visors from the heads of people gathered on the ground before landing at Hagerstown Regional Airport.

No ticker-tape parades greeted its return, but for about 200 other aviation enthusiasts and Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corp. alumni, friends and family, the C-82's homecoming was a victory.

"For an airplane lover, it doesn't get any better than this," said Landis Whitsel of Quincy, Pa., an artist for the Hagerstown Aviation Museum, which bought the Hagerstown-built model at auction in August.

A former paratrooper, Charles McCloud of Hagerstown said he jumped from C-82s during his time in the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion.

Now 78, McCloud expressed admiration for the C-82.

"I might even want to make a blast out of that. We call jumping making a blast. I might even want to make a blast because they (are) good airplanes," said McCloud, a Korean War veteran who claimed he jumped about 80
times from C-82-type planes.

According to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, the 106 1/2-foot-wingspan C-82 Packet, nicknamed the "Flying Boxcar," could carry 41 paratroops or 34 stretchers and haul up to 54,000 pounds. Some of the 223 C-82 aircraft Fairchild made participated in the Berlin Airlift, a museum Web site states.

J. Allen Clopper, who worked in Fairchild's flight-test engineering department, said he witnessed the model's first flight and its last.

On Sept. 10, 1944, when the C-82 first took to the skies, Clopper was responsible for turning out a test-flight report.

"The C-82 that day accelerated down the runway and to everyone's surprise, was airborne about midway," Clopper said during remarks to the crowd. Contrary to military regulations, the aircraft had no parachutes aboard, he said.

Clopper said the test pilot's report addressed the mess-up.

"'The first taxi run developed into the first takeoff when the aircraft was found to be airborne in good condition,'" the report explained.

According to Tom Riford, president of the Hagerstown-Washington County Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Hagerstown museum still is seeking money in its effort to find a home for the C-82, which he said is the last air-worthy plane of its type. The museum paid $140,000 for the plane in August, he said.

The C-82, which served as the model for the more powerful C-119, brought Hagerstown worldwide recognition, said Clopper, who retired from Fairchild in 1972. As he spoke during an interview, a C-130, which has been described as the workhorse of the 167th Airlift Wing of the West Virginia Air National Guard, thundered overhead.

"That's the airplane that put us out of the transport business," Clopper said of the mammoth plane.

As they left the airport, where the C-82 will be displayed, Joann Clark and Mary Clever shared their memories of working at Fairchild.

The Hagerstown sisters said at one time, seven siblings in their family worked for the company. Seeing the C-82 come back was "fabulous," said Clever, who worked in the small-parts department from 1941 to 1958.

Clark said she remembers watching Fairchild planes fly outside. She worked in the office, she said, and she is proud of the C-82.

"I'm sure it took troops overseas. I'm sure it took equipment overseas during the war. You can't help but feel a sense of pride," Clark said.
 

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Monday March 19, 2007

Aviation museum soars with recent, planned acquisitions

by ERIN CUNNINGHAM  erinc@herald-mail.com

HAGERSTOWN - J. Allen Clopper saw the first takeoff of a Fairchild C-82 Packet in the 1940s.

The 91-year-old Hagerstown resident said he saw the airplane's final landing in 2006 at Hagerstown Regional Airport, and said he is the only person to have seen both.

"Just by pure coincidence," he said. "Just by keeping breathing."

Clopper, who worked for Fairchild Industries for 30 years, was at a reception Sunday that Hagerstown Aviation Museum President Kurtis Meyers said was a "thank you" to those who donated money to bring a recently acquired Fairchild C-82 Packet to Hagerstown.

"I had a part in bringing the C-82 back here," Clopper said.

Frank Lamm, who spoke during the reception, had two hands in bringing the plane to Hagerstown. He piloted the aircraft on its return journey. While talking about the flight he took in October 2006, he described a ride that would have been unsettling for most.

"We could smell a little gasoline when we got on the plane," he said. "They said that would go away."

But it was a rewarding trip, Lamm said. When he and the others onboard landed the aircraft in Hagerstown, they were met by many people who were cheering, including one man who Lamm remembered having tears in his eyes.

"He told me, 'I put rivets in that airplane,'" Lamm said, also wiping tears from his eyes.

Of the more than 250 people who watched a presentation about the aircraft Sunday, most of those interviewed said they had contributed or worked at Fairchild.

Widespread publicity surrounding the Hagerstown Aviation Museum's purchase of the Fairchild C-82 Packet has led to donations of at least three more aircraft. Meyers said a Fairchild PT-19, a Fairchild C-119 and a North American AT-6 Texan have been donated since December 2006.

Tom Riford, president of the Hagerstown-Washington County Convention and Visitors Bureau, said that the donation of the three aircraft gives the Hagerstown Aviation Museum, which has been operating for about two years, the largest collection of aircraft of any Maryland aviation museum.

He said the volunteer organization has done "so much in so little time."

The next step for the museum will be raising enough money to bring two of the newly donated aircraft to Hagerstown. The Fairchild C-119 is in Wyoming and will need to undergo $50,000 to $100,000 in repairs before it can be flown, Meyers said.

The North American AT-6 Texan will cost significantly less to transport because it will be hauled by truck.

He said museum officials are counting on the same level of community support received for the Fairchild C-82 Packet while raising money for the new aircraft.

Until a dedicated site for the museum is built, the planes are stored at the Hagerstown Regional Airport.