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Fairchild Republic Co. was the Republic Aviation division that became part of Fairchild Hiller in 1965 and later Fairchild Industries, best known for producing the A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft and the prototype T-46A Eaglet jet trainer.
2 weaponsFairchild Republic Co. was the Fairchild Hiller and Fairchild Industries aircraft division formed from Republic Aviation after the 1965 acquisition. Smithsonian archival material uses Republic Aviation Division and Fairchild Republic for the same organization, placing it inside the wider Fairchild corporate aircraft lineage.
The division's best-known production program was the A-10 Thunderbolt II, a close-air-support aircraft credited by the U.S. Air Force to Fairchild Republic. In the 1980s it also pursued the T-46A Eaglet, a light jet trainer selected for the Air Force's T-37 replacement competition before cancellation left the program at the prototype stage.
Fairchild Republic's later history was shaped by the contraction of Fairchild's aircraft business. The Washington Post reported in 1983 that the Hagerstown aircraft plant would close as A-10 production phased down, and Smithsonian corporate history records the Republic division's 1987 shutdown when Fairchild Industries ceased commercial and military aircraft manufacturing.
The A-10 is the Fairchild Republic production aircraft most closely associated with the company name; the U.S. Air Force credits Fairchild Republic as contractor on its A-10C fact sheet.
Sources: A-10C Thunderbolt II fact sheet, Smithsonian SOVA collection record
The T-46A was Fairchild Republic's 1980s light jet trainer for the U.S. Air Force T-37 replacement competition; it first flew in 1985 and was cancelled a little more than a year later.
Sources: Fairchild Republic T-46A fact sheetSmithsonian archival material says Republic Aviation became Republic Aviation Division, also known as Fairchild Republic, after Fairchild Hiller acquired Republic in 1965.
Sources: Smithsonian SOVA collection record
Smithsonian archival material says Fairchild Industries absorbed the Fairchild Republic Division in the 1971 reorganization that followed the parent company's name change.
Sources: Smithsonian SOVA collection record
The Air Force fact sheet says Fairchild Republic began developing the A-10 Thunderbolt II in Germantown, Maryland, in 1971.
Sources: A-10C Thunderbolt II fact sheet
The Washington Post reported that Fairchild Republic would close its main Hagerstown aircraft plant by the end of 1983 and phase down A-10 production.
Sources: Fairchild Republic Hagerstown plant closure report
The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force says the Fairchild Republic T-46A first flew on October 15, 1985, before the trainer program was cancelled a little more than a year later.
Sources: Fairchild Republic T-46A fact sheet
The Smithsonian archive says the Republic division was shut down in 1987 when Fairchild Industries ceased building commercial and military aircraft.
Sources: Smithsonian SOVA collection record
Public sources use Fairchild Republic, Fairchild Republic Co., and Republic Aviation Division for the same 1965-to-1987 aircraft division within Fairchild Hiller/Fairchild Industries. No rights-clear company-facility image was verified, so the page uses a public-domain A-10 product image.
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