Final configuration and livery, TWA’s Packet receives attention at Paris-Orly. This airplane was originally delivered to the United States Air Force in 1948 with serial 45-57814.

Fairchild C-82A Packet: Built as a World War II military troup and cargo transporter, it was nichnamed 'Flying Boxcar' because it cubic-foot capacity was the same as a standard railraod boxcar. This 184th example of is type was acquired for $50.000 from

Tel Aviv-based Bedek Aviation. The  C-82A was handed  over to its new owner in 1956 with only 2,147 hours on the airframe.

TWA pilots ferried the ex-military airplane to Paris, where extensive modifications ware carried out. Company mechanics, under the supervision of Fairchild Aircraft Coporation personel, also mounted a Fairchild 144 turbojet on top  of the fuselage, providing 1000lb (450kg) of thrust for additional takeoff and climb power.

Mechanics worked 12-hour days for eight months, converting the packet to civilian standards. In the process, they redesigned the latest radio gear. Ultimately TWA's Packet  had little in common with a C-82A.

Flying Ontos was a challenge. Crosswind landings were especially tricky; it was slow to accelerate and heavy on the controls. Its 125mph (200kph) takeoff speed equaled the minimum control speed on one engine. Because it quickly overheated on the ground, the turbojet was started during the takeoff roll, and it had only two settings: stop and full throttle.

The Wright Turbo-Compound engines that powered TWA’s later-model Constellations and Starliners proved particularly troublesome. During 1958—its last full year of non-jet trans-Atlantic operations—the airline endured 103 overseas engine changes. In addition, Ontos undertook a monthly, six-day, 58-hour Paris–Bombay roundtrip to position a spare Constellation engine. To Manila, another frequent destination, the mission took 112 hours, flown in ten days. Often word was sent to ‘push up the throttles’ on the way back to Paris, where Ontos was needed to transport yet another spare engine to a grounded Connie in England, Ireland, the Azores, or Iceland.

Once, between Bangkok and Manila, an engine failure forced Ontos to soldier on for three hours on one Double Wasp.  The pilots could use the jet engine only  for the last hour because of its excessive fuel burn. On another occasion, Ontos lost hydraulics on touchdown  at Shannon and went off the end of the runway. It was pulled out of the mud with no damage. These were the only serious emergencies experienced during the Packet’s airline life.

TWA finally got around to licensing the airplane with the US FAA (then the Federal Aviation Agency) on March 1, 1960, receiving registration N9701F. Radio call-sign TWA Triple-5 One was retained for flight activity. At the same time, red twin stripes were added, along with a rotating, anti-collision beacon and further radio upgrades.

TWA’s last European passenger propeller service ended on October 28, 1961, relegating Ontos’s duties to the transport of Pratt & Whitney JT3 turbojet engines—two could be carried simultaneously—plus the occasional transfer of ground equipment, parts, and even commissary supplies between stations. By then, its original jet had been replaced with a 3,250lb (1,475kg)-thrust Westinghouse J34 ‘Jet-Pack’ (as used on the larger C-119) in accordance with an STC (Supplemental Type Certificate) held by Steward-Davis of Long Beach, California.

More reliable turbine performance from TWA’s Boeing 707s meant less activity for the Packet, but it remained on standby at Orly and was kept fairly busy; in 1968, the overseas division carried out 68 unplanned engine changes. TWA’s expanded overseas route map required occasional trips to East Africa and even special assignments to Vietnam [Viêt Nam] were flown by the Packet.

until 2000 and was parked. When Hawkins & Powers closed its doors in 2005, the Packet and 60 other vintage aircraft went on the auction block.

On August 23, 2006, the Hagerstown Aviation Museum in  Maryland submitted a winning bid of $127,500 for this long-sought-after airplane, recognized as the last flyable Packet in the world. It left Greybull on October 12, after an extensive, $45,000 renovation. The FAA issued a ferry permit to allow the trip back to the C-82A’s  birthplace for permanent display. It arrived on October 15 at Hagerstown Regional-Henson Airport, wearing military insignia along with its N9701F registration. Upon closer examination, TWA stripe outlines can still be seen on the fuselage, a ghostly reminder of its earlier life as Ontos.

(A special thought for the veterans of TWA International Flight Operations, Maintenance , etc... during the 60s, for their exceptional work in carrying out all these modifications on the C-82.) Also Jon Proctor TWA DCS )  marc brécy CDG Dispatch.