I attended a combination car and air show yesterday at the Hagerstown, MD Regional Airport...the former home of Fairchild AIrcraft. They have a museum there and a number of Fairchild aircraft including this C-82 Packet like the one used for "Operation Airlift" where two of the then new Avanti were flown around the country to introduce the car to dealers.
At the conclusion of the car show the museum people were more than happy to allow me to take photos of my '02 Avanti with their C-82. They loved the story of the airlift and kept calling other museum members over to hear the story. The C-82 shown is the last example of the aircraft that was flying.
What is also very interesting and a surprise to the museum people was that they also own the exact aircraft that was used by Studebaker in 1962 for the airlift! By using the tail number of the aircraft in original airlift photos the plane can be traced to the Hagerstown museum...though it's the fuselage only that seems to have survived...kind of amazing in its own right. I would have expected the odds were the airlift C-82 would have been scrapped or left derelict somewhere in the world, if traceable at all.
I was told that yes...they own that fuselage with that registration number, it's in Wyoming at this time being rebuilt. At some point in the future it will be shipped back to the museum for static display.
What they suggested to me is a really nice proposal if it can worked out and approved. They offered that when the original airlift fuselage is returned, maybe it can be arranged to open the cargo door and attach the ramps so Avanti owners can run their car up the ramp for photos...this would not include driving into the fuselage itself but the ramps only, like their car was being loaded or off-loaded like in 1962.
Then one of the museum guys said "Hell...we can do that with this complete C-82 to make it look even more realistic!" THAT is one great offer. While details would have to be worked out for such an event, with approvals from the museum staff, etc., that would be a wonderful opportunity for Avanti owners with photos ops for the AOAI and SDC at the same time.
It seems to me the best way for this would be for a number of Avantis to have this done in one event rather than putting the museum out for occasional photos. Maybe during or just before the Dover International SDC and AOAI meet next year? Anyone coming from the west can arrange to meet at the museum on the same day and time for photos doing this. They could then caravan afterwards to Dover. While it would certainly be possible to make a day trip out of this during the week of the Dover meet, it's roughly a three hour drive from Dover to Hagerstown which could make it difficult at best for such a day trip with other events going on throughout the week. Such a thing would have to be brought up to the host chapter of the meet. I would think arranging a group meet at Hagerstown prior to Dover would be best as everyone would be on the road anyway.
If this can be pulled off, local Hagerstown, Washington and Baltimore news media can be notified ahead of time for coverage if they wanted to attend...that could also be great publicity for the Avanti marque.
What does everyone think? If we can get some consensus and approvals from the AOAI and SDC hierarchy I'd be happy to work with the Hagerstown Air Museum to see if it can be arranged. It's still not a done deal...they would have to approve it.
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