Hagerstown Museum considers buying C-123!

N681DG,  USAF  54-0681,   SN 20130

HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) — The Hagerstown Aviation Museum is trying to bring a 55-year-old Fairchild airplane back to the western Maryland city where it was made.

President John Seburn says the twin-engine, C-123 cargo plane was built sometime between 1954 and 1958.

He says the U.S. Treasury Department has accepted the museum’s bid for the plane.

Now the group needs to raise $70,000 to buy it and fly it back from Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Seburn says the acquisition would complete the museum’s collection of the three military cargo planes that Fairchild produced.

The C-123 was used heavily during the Vietnam War to transport troops and supplies.

It was also used for aerial spraying of herbicides, including Agent Orange.

The federal government says the risk of exposure to Agent Orange residue is extremely low.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

C-123 Veteran's Comment: No, the comment "the federal government says the risk of exposure to Agent Orange is extremely low" is incorrect. That is the conclusion of the VA as it seeks to prevent C-123 veterans from receiving medical care for Agent Orange illnesses. In fact, the CDC and the NIH have both taken stands that the aircraft were (and are, for the few remaining planes) "heavily contaminated" and "a danger to public health", as testified by Air Force and GSA officials under oath. While even  official Air Force records are unreliable regarding spray operations, it does seem that Acft 681 is not an Agent Orange spray aircraft - an inspection of the wing roots and area between the engines and fuselage will confirm one way or another.