Fairchild C-119C Flying Boxcar
In 1944, Fairchild Aircraft won the contract for an aircraft that would replace the prewar C-46 Commando and C-47 Skytrain transports. Fairchild’s design, which would become the C-82 Packet, utilized an unusual high wing with twin tail booms, with the fuselage between. This gave the Packet a large, uncluttered fuselage space for cargo storage. It was also unstable and underpowered. To address these problems, Fairchild redesigned the Packet as the XC-82B, but the new version was so different that it was a new aircraft, and thus it was redesignated C-119 Flying Boxcar, for its fuselage shape. The C-119, which quickly acquired the nickname “Dollar Nineteen,” was larger than the C-82, equipped with more powerful engines and a strengthened airframe, and moved the cockpit from above the fuselage to the nose, improving pilot visibility and handling. It retained the Packet’s rear clamshell doors, allowing equipment to be loaded directly into the aircraft.
US Air Force crews assigned to C-119s still considered them one level above a deathtrap, remarking that it was good that it was designed to drop paratroopers, since the plane would crash anyway. The C-119 could still struggle into the air when it was fully loaded (later C-119 users, such as Canada and India, would equip their aircraft with a jet engine mounted atop the wings), and the loss of an engine would usually result the aircraft diving into the ground. Nonetheless, it could carry more cargo than any other aircraft of its time, including 65 paratroopers fully loaded, and if it took awhile to win converts, the Flying Boxcar was to prove its worth. The C-119 was first used in Korea as a general cargo aircraft and paratroop carrier, participating in the limited number of combat drops of the Korean War.
Several USAF aircraft were loaned to the CIA and used to resupply the besieged French garrison at Dien Bien Phu in 1954 before it was overrun; others were modified with the Fulton Recovery System and used to snag photographic capsules from Discoverer reconnaissance satellites beginning in 1960, marking the first time such an object had been recovered from space. As the C-130 Hercules replaced the Flying Boxcar in the late 1950s, it would be passed on to friendly nations, and eventually 24 air forces would fly C-119s. The last C-119s would not leave military service with the Republic of China Air Force until 2002, and many were converted after being withdrawn from other air forces into firefighting aircraft, though these have since been grounded. A few small Alaskan air cargo companies still fly C-119s in revenue service. Of the 1183 produced, 64 aircraft are preserved in museums in military colors.
Other than this is an early C-119C, 51-2566, not much is available of the record of this "Dollar Nineteen." Its last unit was the 433rd Troop Carrier Wing (Reserve) at Kelly AFB, Texas, and it was retired in 1966. For many years, it was displayed at the Confederate (now Commemorative) Air Force's museum at Harlingen, but in 1986, 51-2566 was moved to the Museum of Aviation at Robins AFB, Georgia. As is typical for C-119s on display outside, it is painted in anticorrosion gray paint rather than the bare metal carried by C-119s on active duty; the white uppersurfaces were to keep the fuselage cool, especially in the heat of a Texas sun.
Fairchild C-119C Flying Boxcar
In 1944, Fairchild Aircraft won the contract for an aircraft that would replace the prewar C-46 Commando and C-47 Skytrain transports. Fairchild’s design, which would become the C-82 Packet, utilized an unusual high wing with twin tail booms, with the fuselage between. This gave the Packet a large, uncluttered fuselage space for cargo storage. It was also unstable and underpowered. To address these problems, Fairchild redesigned the Packet as the XC-82B, but the new version was so different that it was a new aircraft, and thus it was redesignated C-119 Flying Boxcar, for its fuselage shape. The C-119, which quickly acquired the nickname “Dollar Nineteen,” was larger than the C-82, equipped with more powerful engines and a strengthened airframe, and moved the cockpit from above the fuselage to the nose, improving pilot visibility and handling. It retained the Packet’s rear clamshell doors, allowing equipment to be loaded directly into the aircraft.
US Air Force crews assigned to C-119s still considered them one level above a deathtrap, remarking that it was good that it was designed to drop paratroopers, since the plane would crash anyway. The C-119 could still struggle into the air when it was fully loaded (later C-119 users, such as Canada and India, would equip their aircraft with a jet engine mounted atop the wings), and the loss of an engine would usually result the aircraft diving into the ground. Nonetheless, it could carry more cargo than any other aircraft of its time, including 65 paratroopers fully loaded, and if it took awhile to win converts, the Flying Boxcar was to prove its worth. The C-119 was first used in Korea as a general cargo aircraft and paratroop carrier, participating in the limited number of combat drops of the Korean War.
Several USAF aircraft were loaned to the CIA and used to resupply the besieged French garrison at Dien Bien Phu in 1954 before it was overrun; others were modified with the Fulton Recovery System and used to snag photographic capsules from Discoverer reconnaissance satellites beginning in 1960, marking the first time such an object had been recovered from space. As the C-130 Hercules replaced the Flying Boxcar in the late 1950s, it would be passed on to friendly nations, and eventually 24 air forces would fly C-119s. The last C-119s would not leave military service with the Republic of China Air Force until 2002, and many were converted after being withdrawn from other air forces into firefighting aircraft, though these have since been grounded. A few small Alaskan air cargo companies still fly C-119s in revenue service. Of the 1183 produced, 64 aircraft are preserved in museums in military colors.
Other than this is an early C-119C, 51-2566, not much is available of the record of this "Dollar Nineteen." Its last unit was the 433rd Troop Carrier Wing (Reserve) at Kelly AFB, Texas, and it was retired in 1966. For many years, it was displayed at the Confederate (now Commemorative) Air Force's museum at Harlingen, but in 1986, 51-2566 was moved to the Museum of Aviation at Robins AFB, Georgia. As is typical for C-119s on display outside, it is painted in anticorrosion gray paint rather than the bare metal carried by C-119s on active duty; the white uppersurfaces were to keep the fuselage cool, especially in the heat of a Texas sun.