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Flying Boxcar Comes Home

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Twosheds

Twosheds

Darth Vader
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Thought some of you might be interested in this:

On Sunday afternoon, a Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar military transport 'plane returned to Hagerstown, Maryland where it was built in '53. It's military career and civilian life as a firebomber is over and it is now a museum artifact belonging to the Hagerstown Aviation Museum. After many trials and tribulations the "buck-nineteen" was flown to Hagerstown from Greybull, Wyoming on a ferry permit. Here's the story:

https://www.hagerstownaviationmuseum.org/home.html

I didn't get to the airport to see the landing, but I'll get there someday to tour it and take some photos.

I worked at Fairchild long after the last C-119 was delivered to the Air Force, but I worked with lots of Old-Timers who were on that program. There are a good many still around Hagerstown and they turned out on a windy, cool Sunday to see the ship they built come home. Maybe someday I'll watch as an A-10A returns to become a museum piece!
 
Wow...that's cool! I have to show the Mrs. what it costs to wake a sleeping airplane. Waking a sleeping british car isn't so bad by comparison! Just curious though....how do you boil the fuel tanks of an airplane?!!
 
I've been by the airport at greybull and its like something out of the past. Tons and ton of round engine airplanes all over the place.
 
One of the coolest things I've ever experienced was September 26, 2005.

I had *just* landed after my first solo flight (Cessna 152!). Taxied back to the FBO, cut the engine, and got out to plant my trembling feet on mother earth. KIJD

Felt and heard a deep rumble above me.

Collings Foundation's B-17 Nine-O-Nine was coming in right over me for a landing.

What a day!

Tom
 
Bummer, I was in Alton Sunday morning. Wish I would have known, I would have driven by to watch the takeoff.

I was lucky enough to see The Frisco 1522 on its final run in 2002. The noise and the ground rumbling as it went by were breathtaking.
 
One of my earliest memories concerning trains (I must have been 5 or 6 years old) was when my uncle took me to see the "Baldwin Works" in Philadelphia, where he worked as an electrician. Boy they used really big hammers!
 
The aircraft was a work horse, no doubt! But, back in 1959 I got a ride out of Gitmo Naval Air Station in one of those, to Cherry Point and all I can remember was, I almost went deaf because of the noise and almost froze to death because the cabin heat didn't work. It was like flying inside of a rattling tin can with wings!
happy0148.gif

I felt sorry for the guys asigned to them in cold weather. Bummer!
 
Back when I was young, all the body parts worked and I was up to a challenge....I was staioned with the 366th. Gunfighters staioned at Danang RVN. Was a new F-4 mechanic but an "old" guy...way up near 36 or so, was about to rotate back to the states and he needed someone to replace him on the older planes. I was asked(as I was the newest, dumbest and had'nt run screaming from the room)
Anyhow, I said sure. Best thing I ever did. C-130s, C-123s, C7s, A1Hs, a few differt choppers and the recently refurbished AC-119 gunships. What a hunk of machinery. Cannons, mini-guns, nite scopes, flares ejectors...you name it. Got to see them work out a few times locally when the bad guys tried to over run us. We were on the fence plinking away with M-16s while these guys were circling overhead plowing the ground. Awesome...and comforting.
 
Stewart said:
I've been by the airport at greybull and its like something out of the past. Tons and ton of round engine airplanes all over the place.
Click to expand...

I stopped there also many years ago. They let me wander around the place as long as I stayed out of the way of the maintenance crew.
 
Twosheds said:
Maybe someday I'll watch as an A-10A returns to become a museum piece!
Click to expand...

I hope they don't become museum pieces! A truly purpose built aircraft! Plus, a buddy of mine used to drive one in some of the less safe area's of the world, and it always got him home. I'm sure his wife is eternally grateful to those who got it off the ground and back home (as the rest of us are too, do doubt!).
 
Basil said:
I just watched Flight of the Phoenix the other day!
Click to expand...

The original or the remake?

The original Jimmy Stewart/Richard Attenborough (sp?) movie starred a Fairchild C-82, the predecessor of the C-119. They called it a "Skytruck", though. The Hagerstown Aviation Museum bought a C-82 at the auction of Hawkins & Powers equipment in Greybull and ferried it to Hagerstown last year.

It was at that auction that the museum crew saw the C-119. They had spent all their money on the C-82, so could not bid on the C-119. But a benefactor bought at least two C-119s and parts and donated one to the museum. They had two to choose from; one was in the remake of <span style="font-style: italic">Flight of the Phoenix</span> (the Dennis Quaid one) and the other, the one they chose, starred as itself (a firebomber) in <span style="font-style: italic">Always</span>.
 
Spinal_Tap said:
Twosheds said:
Maybe someday I'll watch as an A-10A returns to become a museum piece!
Click to expand...

I hope they don't become museum pieces! A truly purpose built aircraft! Plus, a buddy of mine used to drive one in some of the less safe area's of the world, and it always got him home. I'm sure his wife is eternally grateful to those who got it off the ground and back home (as the rest of us are too, do doubt!).
Click to expand...

Fairchild built 'em stout, that's certain. All those rivets...

If the 119 was built anything like the A-10A, it is stout, too!

By the way, there is a YA-10 at the Air Force Museum in Dayton. One of seven pre-production models for evaluation by the Air Force.
 
I was riding my horse awhile back and saw these twin tail fins and knew it was a C 119.
Across the way they have a dirt strip that folks keep their private aircraft on so I drove over and checked it out.
My first 5 qualifying jumps were out of a C119 (the Air Guard still had them in their inventory and were tagged to support Jump week @ Ft. Benning).
I remember it as a great jump as there is little slipstream turbulance where the jump doors are due to the body configuration.
I also remember they firewalled the throttles and used the whole airstrip to get off.
Anyway, this is my neighbors AC. How cool is that.

https://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc138/prb51/DSC01201.jpg
https://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc138/prb51/DSC01202.jpg
https://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc138/prb51/DSC01203.jpg
https://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc138/prb51/DSC01204.jpg

That's my '56 TR3 and I took the pics this morning when I saw this thread last night.
 
That's as cool as it gets, prb51.

Looks like an earlier model than the museum's what with the Hamilton-Standard Hydromatics and 4360s. I like the polished aluminum finish. Thanks for posting the photos. If you don't mind I will send the links to the museum.

Interesting that the 3350s were rated at the same horsepower as the 4360s yet had only 77% of the displacement and 64% of the cylinders!
 
I just remembered that C119/C123s were used in the movies Air America with Mel Gibson and Robert Downey Jr. and Con Air with Nicholas Cage, John Cusack and John Malkovich.......for what that's worth! :smile:
 
John,
Glad you enjoyed the pictures and that there was something of note.
We (US Army Special Forces) still use a DC3 for night infiltration into our school house final exercise "Robin Sage" at Ft.Bragg.
The Brown brothers rent/fly it for us for team (12 men) night jumps, they also fly for the forest service. I've jumped that aircraft too, you need to put a 12 foot extension on the static line to clear the tail safely.
Old aircraft are just like old cars and I love to see them flying.
 
Silverghost said:
I just remembered that C119/C123s were used in the movies Air America with Mel Gibson and Robert Downey Jr. and Con Air with Nicholas Cage, John Cusack and John Malkovich.......for what that's worth! :smile:
Click to expand...

It's worth something to an Aviation Old Blank like me!

I agree on the C-123s, but can't remember seeing any 119s in those movies. The single-engine turboprop that they use in <span style="font-style: italic">Air America</span> is a Fairchild product, too. It's a Porter. Originally made by the Swiss company Pilatus with a recip engine, Fairchild made them with a PratT & Whitney PT6 turboprop. The turboprop is so much lighter than the recip, Fairchild had to put it on a really long engine mount to get the balance right, giving the Porter its distinctive long nose. There's just empty space and long steel tubes between the firewall and back of the engine.

When the Fairchild plant closed, I got a photo of a Porter with palm trees in the background. Maybe it's in Laos!
 
John,
We used Porters for message pick ups when documents needed exfiltration. A line strung between two poles and the porter would come in with a small grappling hook (second guy hanging out the door) and hook the line pulling up the case (usually sealed in plastic pipe).
We had one crash once and the wreck had 100 dollar bills all over the place (couple hundred thou) that we had to secure and return to 'Govt. officials".
123's were lousy jumps as the wheel wells go right up to the jump doors, hard to make the corner when jumping equipment.
 
No 119s at Air America only 123s and lots of other smaller stuff. I was there and did supply for Water Pump under the big tree in front of the hangers.
 
Some C119's were used in RVN during the "Air America" time frame but only as gunships as far as I know. Some of the early 'spooky' aircraft (elec. gatling gun equipped) were old Dakota's and C119's. The ARVN had a few at the Pleiku field.
 
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