Fairchild Aircraft

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
(Redirected from Fairchild-Dornier)
Jump to: navigation, search

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

Fairchild Aviation
Aircraft manufacturer
Fate Acquired by M7 Aerospace
Founded 1925
Founder Sherman Fairchild
Defunct 2003
Headquarters San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
Area served
 Military, Civilian
Subsidiaries Fairchild Aircraft Ltd.
Ranger Aircraft Engine Division/Fairchild Engine Division

Fairchild was an aircraft and aerospace manufacturing company based at various times in Farmingdale, New York; Hagerstown, Maryland; and San Antonio, Texas.

History

Early aircraft

The Fairchild plant at Jamaica, New York, in 1941.

The company was founded by Sherman Fairchild in 1924 as Fairchild Aviation Corporation, based in Farmingdale, and East Farmingdale, New York. It was established as the parent company for Fairchild's many aviation interests. The company produced the first US aircraft to include a fully enclosed cockpit and hydraulic landing gear, the Fairchild FC-1. At some point they were also known as the Fairchild Aircraft Manufacturing Company. The Fairchild Aircraft Ltd. of Longueuil, Quebec, Canada was an aircraft manufacturer in the period 1920-1950. It served as a subsidiary of the Fairchild company of the United States. The Fairchild Engine company was formed with the purchase of the Caminez Engine Company in 1925.[1] In 1929 Sherman Fairchild purchased a majority stock interest in Kreider-Reisner Aircraft Company of Hagerstown, Maryland. Fairchild moved to Hagerstown in 1931.[2]

Besides designing and building aircraft, Fairchild pioneered the commercial use of aerial photography. Many of its first aircraft like the Fairchild FC-2 were originally designed for that purpose, because the cameras of those days were extremely heavy and required flying steady at a high altitude for that era.[3] In 1935 Fairchild was hired by the US government to do aerial photograph surveys of the United States to track soil erosion and its effects.[4]

A Fairchild aircraft, the Virginia, was taken as one of three aircraft by Richard E. Byrd on his 1928–1929 expedition to the South Pole. It was used for test flights and reconnaissance.

World War II

Fairchild Argus III, 1944
Fairchild 24, 1940
C-119 Flying Boxcars from the 314th Troop Carrier Group.

Among its activities during World War II was producing PT-19/PT-23/PT-26 (Cornell) and AT-21 trainers, C-82 Packet cargo planes and missiles. The Fairchild AT-21 Gunner, a twin-engine trainer, was manufactured at a former rayon mill in Burlington, North Carolina. Also large numbers of the Fairchild Type 24 (C-61) were produced for the military (principally the Fairchild Argus for the Royal Air Force) and postwar, the civilian market (see separate entry under Fairchild Argus). Fairchild ranked 73rd among United States corporations in the value of World War II military production contracts.[5]

Postwar

The A-10 Thunderbolt II
Fairchild PT-26B Cornell in flying condition at the Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum, Brandon, Manitoba, 2005.
Fairchild 71C at the Western Canada Aviation Museum, Winnipeg, Manitoba

The Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar was a US military transport aircraft developed from the World War II C-82 Packet. The C-119 was designed to carry cargo, personnel, litter patients and mechanized equipment with the ability to make "paradrops" of cargo and troops. The first C-119 made its initial flight in November 1947, and by the time production ceased in 1955, more than 1,100 C-119s had been built for use in the USAF and other air forces including the Royal Canadian Air Force. After its retirement from military service, the flexibility and ruggedness of the C-119 made it ideal to convert as a waterbomber.

In 1949, the Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporation (based in Hagerstown, Maryland) started work on the C-123 Provider, the transport officially entering service in 1955. In 1954 Fairchild purchased the American Helicopter Company, incorporating it and the XH-26 Jet Jeep as a division.[6] In 1956, the company acquired rights to the Fokker Friendships, producing 206 of the aircraft as the Fairchild F-27 and Fairchild Hiller FH-227. During the 1950s, Fairchild was a large subcontractor to Boeing for B-52 fuselage sections and wing panels. Later they would build F-4 Phantom tail sections, F-14 Tomcat tails, and Space Shuttle stabilizers.

Their association with Boeing would continue into the 1980s building wing controls surfaces for 747s and 757s. In 1964, the company purchased Hiller Aircraft, changing its name to Fairchild Hiller and producing the FH-1100, until 1973 when the helicopter division was sold back to Stanley Hiller. In 1965, the company acquired the Republic Aviation Company.

Following the death of its founder, Fairchild changed its name to Fairchild Industries in 1971, before purchasing Swearingen and manufacturing the Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner, a successful commuter aircraft (with US military designations C-26 Metroliner and UC-26 Metroliner). During 1971 and 1972, the company developed what would become the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II "Warthog", prevailing over rival Northrop YA-9.

The company developed the T-46 jet trainer to replace the elderly T-37 Tweet trainer, but it was not accepted by the Air Force because of performance problems.

In 1984, aircraft production ceased in Hagerstown, Maryland.

After the company's takeover of Dornier's civil assets in 1996, the company was renamed Fairchild Dornier. The company commenced production of the Dornier 328 in 1998 under license from DASA.

In December 1999, Fairchild Aerospace Corporation was acquired by German insurer Allianz A.G. and the United States investment group Clayton, Dubilier & Rice Inc. for $1.2 billion.[7]

In 2003, the assets of Fairchild were purchased by M7 Aerospace and the new company was relocated to San Antonio.

On December 15, 2010, M7 was purchased by the United States subsidiary of the Israeli defense contractor Elbit Systems.[citation needed]

Aircraft

Summary of aircraft built by Fairchild
Model name First flight Number built Type
Fairchild-Dornier 728JET 1997 0 Prototype commuter jet
Fairchild-Dornier 428JET 1990s 0 Cancelled regional jet
Fairchild-Dornier 328JET 1991 110 commuter jet
Fairchild T-46 1985 3 Jet Trainer
Fairchild C-26 Metroliner 1980s Military transport aircraft
A-10 Thunderbolt II 1972 716 Close air support jet
Fairchild AU-23 Peacemaker 1971 Armed counter-insurgency, utility aircraft
Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner 1968 600 Turboprop airliner
Fairchild AC-119 1968 52 Ground-attack aircraft
Fairchild-Hiller FH-1100 1966 253 Turbine helicopter
Fairchild-Swearingen Merlin 1965 xx Turboprop corporate
Fairchild 228 1960s 2 Regional jet airliner
Fairchild VZ-5 1959 1 Experimental VTOL
Fairchild Hiller F-27, FH-227 1958 78 Turboprop commuter
Fairchild XC-120 Packplane 1950 1 Military transport aircraft
Fairchild C-123 Provider 1949 307 Cargo
Fairchild XNQ 1949 2 Trainer
Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar 1947 1,183 Cargo
Fairchild M-84 1945 1 Four-Five place family aircraft
Fairchild C-82 Packet 1944 223 Cargo
Fairchild BQ-3 1944 2 Assault Drone
Fairchild AT-21 Gunner 1943 175 Bomber Trainer
Fairchild PT-19 1939 6397 Trainer
Fairchild F-46 1937 1 Light aircraft
Fairchild Model 45 1935 17 Low-wing Monoplane
Fairchild 91 1935 4 flying-boat airliner
Fairchild 24 1932 2232 Four passenger light aircraft
Fairchild 22 1931 127 Two passenger light aircraft
Fairchild 100 1930 27 Nine passenger airliner
Fairchild KR-34 1928 73+ Biplane
Fairchild 21 1927 2 Two-seat touring monoplane
Fairchild 42 1927 8 Three passenger light aircraft
Fairchild 71 1926 111 Eight passenger light aircraft
Fairchild FC-2 1926 118 Four passenger light aircraft
Fairchild FC-1 1926 1 Four passenger light aircraft

Missiles

Spacecraft

See also

References

Notes
  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Kaske, Kristine L. "Fairchild Industries, Inc. Collection." National Air and Space Archives, 2003.
  3. ↑ Donald 1997, p. 382.
  4. ↑ "Wide Area Is Mapped From Air By Giant Ten Lens Camera." Popular Mechanics, October 1935. (Editors have stated Fairchild Aircraft in hand written comment to left of archived article.)
  5. ↑ Peck, Merton J. & Scherer, Frederic M. The Weapons Acquisition Process: An Economic Analysis (1962) Harvard Business School p.619
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ "Fairchild Aerospace is sold for $1.2 billion." The New York Times, 29 December 1999. Retrieved: 28 July 2011.
Bibliography
  • Donald, David, ed. The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft. New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997. ISBN 0-7607-0592-5.

External links

Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=Fairchild_Aircraft&oldid=120195"