Look Back on The Aero Experience Southwest Tour: Gainesville, TX and Fort Smith, AR

By Fed Harl

The Aero Experience looks back on our recent Southwest Tour visits to Gainesville, TX and Fort Smith, AR. We visited the iconic ATL-98 Carvair, Miss 1944, at Gainesville Municipal Airport, TX. The Carvair was originally manufactured as C-54 44-9023 and was registered for civilian use under several operators before being converted to the Carvair aircraft No. 9 (of 21) and used by British Air Ferries. The Carvair employed an open-nose configuration for loading cars for cross-channel flights and other bulk cargo operations flown by other carriers. It is hoped that it will return to flying status in the future. We also saw an assortment of agricultural application aircraft, business jets and general aviation aircraft. At Ft. Smith Regional Airport, we found military aircraft on the TacAir apron, including this T-38 Talon and F/A-18C Hornet.