C-119 Fairchild 

Used to see these almost every day when I was a kid, back in the Pleistocene. We didn't know from "C-119", we just called them flying boxcars, because that's what our parents told us. It seemed to me a very natural shape for an airplane. (I had a model of a P-38 over my bed, so I was not unbiased.) The jet age was well-begun, but for many years there were a lot of piston engines around. The sound of two piston-prop engines heterodyning, *almost* but not quite synchronized, was one of the basic sounds of my childhood.

Had an uncle who flew these out of March AFB in the 60's as a reservists. Ferried supplies to Vietnam. One hop to hawaii for refueling the then either Wake Island or P.I. then into South Vietnam. Don't remeber the intervols, once every couple months i think. He told me one trip they carried a load of beer for the troops ❤. This after he piloted a B-17 for 35+ missions over occupied France and Germany in early 1945. Retired full bird Colonel in 1970's. God Bless our military personnel.

Saw one come in at the TICO airshow here in Florida back in the 90's. After they taxied in , the cargo doors opened , the ramps came out and a Ford escort and Mercedes off loaded . Now that's the way to go to an air show. Thanks for posting . Always loved the head on profile.

My father was a Air Force Reservist flying C-119 cargo planes in Indiana. In 1968 his unit was called to active duty. The planes were retrofitted with 7.62 mini guns and designated AC-119 “Shadow” gunships. Similar to the AC-47 Spooky “Puff the Magic Dragon “. The AC-119 had 4 mini-guns vs 3 on the AC-47. Each mini-gun could be switched to either 3000 or 6000 rounds per minute. Sorry Charlie. RIP Dad.

O c 119 era o poderoso avião da minha época , saudades desta maravilha de aeronave 😢❤

Saw this plane on the ramp in Port of Spain, Trinidad in the early 2000's when it was returning from filming the Flight of the Phoenix movie re-make. I was a crew member on a cargo plane parked nearby. The owner of Hawkins and Powers and Frank Lamm were the pilots. They tech-stopped, took off (using the rooftop jet engine, too) and came back a bit later with an engine indication problem. Fixed it and left again headed to Wyoming. The propellers were ones I'd never seen on a 3350 powered C-119 before, probably there to make it resemble a C-82 more so than the usual 4 bladed paddle-props. Hope this airplane made it to a museum somewhere.

I was out at Ellington AFB many years ago with my dad, when you could still take your family out to the flight line and go aboard the aircraft and see what the "office" he worked in was like.I asked him what the large flat black paint areas on the booms and wing roots aft of the engines were for.His casual response was that the engines leaked oil- a LOT- and it made it less noticeable to the folks in the back so they didn't get as nervous.

A simple video that is a pleasure to watch and with sound (delicious!) to boot. It brings back the memory of a Sears catalog Christmas where my choice was a military toy set that had a 1/48 scale BOXCAR with a nose that swung open with a ramp and stuff the soldiers and vehicles into it for a safe mission. Only safe missions with me. At ease.

BEAUTIFUL sighting of the C-119 Fairchild, mate!!

I remember seeing this airplane landing and taking off at Van Nuys Airport when I was a boy. Beautiful airplane.

When I was a little kid I used to see these fly over at least once per day. Then in the early 60's they slowly started disappearing. Just a few miles away from us was one of those aircraft radio directional towers so even though there was not a major airport nearby we I'd still get to see all kinds of planes everyday.

I used to play on one that had crashed at the end of the runway at Ramey Air Force Base in Puerto Rico. (early 1960s) The C 119 has always been my favorite aricraft. Was hoping to own one when I got older, but they are so scare now I can't afford one. It's a shame they were never retrofitted with Turbo Prop engines off a C 130. We had a C 47 on our field behind my house for a while, but some guy in Alaska bought it.

i done 12 flights and 10 jump from that crazy plane !!! 1976/77 Folgore Parachute Regiment in Italy ...few time we had to go back becase had engine problems!!

Made my first jump from one of these, 1967. I preferred jumping a C119 to a C130. I think most of us did because the 119 was less raucous and the prop blast was less. There was something about the footing, too, as I recall, but I don't remember the details. I think it had to do with the the narrow walkway created by the floor rollers(?) for cargo in the 130. Anyhow, nice to see it again.

The C-119 was a common sight when I was growing up in the Milwaukee area. Love the sound of those engines.

It's also used for firefighting.

As a flight engineerand mechanic on the c 119 at Long Beach afb in 1958 i loved these very safe dependable planes,. The entire wing the 452nd to March afb riverside ca in 1960. 1963 we changed over to the c 124s and flew some of the c 119s to nationalist Chinese Air Force at ping ting afb Taiwan

Around 1960 we were flying our CAP L-16 when we picked up a strange vibration. I looked to our rear and a flight of C-119's out of Willow Grove PA were playing with us. We made a quick decent

Just love the prop sound at ground idle!!! Saw one on Shemya 1984...

Made untold number of jumps on this bird. Then the Herc came in. Very smooth. The magic was lost.

Remember these way up in the sky when I was a child. Some one used to fly one as an air freighter. That's what my brother & dad told me.

Made my first 4 jumps from this aircraft in 1969. Never jumped it again.

I love these things..I looked at one a Grissom Airfield in Indiana in AWE. What an airplane! Big Beautiful and sexy... the Queen Latifa of the skies. What is the approx fuel burn on one of these? Must be substantial or more would still be in service. Texted Mikey Mc Brian of Buffalo airways that he needed two of these and sell their electra!

I never worked on or got to ride on one of those C-119 Box Car airplanes, but remember seeing some on the news during the Vietnam War flying in and out of bases in Vietnam primarily carrying bodies to Clark Air Base, Philippines.

This was the plane that was made airworthy to fly in the remake of the movie “Flight of the Phoenix” in 2004. It still has the logo of the fictional oil company from the movie on the nose. The plane originally had an auxiliary jet engine in a nacelle on top of the fuselage, but that was removed to make the plane cleaner looking for the movie.

Yeah if I won the Lottery I'd definitely buy one of these... :)

Fairchild C-119 Flying Box Car. In Vietnam, it was used for troop transport, supply transport and, as the AC-119, a gunship.

We had a few 119's at our SAC base in 1957. No one wanted to fly them. They had a habit of engine fires and loosing props. We were used too fires cause B-36 eng fires were common but the B-36 had a good fire suppression system or we would just climb higher and the lack of oxygen would put to the fire.

They are a lot smaller than I remember them as a kid. The local Air National Guard had them stationed nearby and they were constantly flying overhead. I head that we sold them all to some South American country. I will bet that most of them are still flying today.

Real beauty, looks like she wants to fly. So big inside you could make inside your house lol.

Pack plane was just like thunderbird 2 and you could have attached parachutes to the cargo/passenger compartment, fabulous

Jumped out of these planes as a paratrooper in US Army in 1960. It was my favorite for jumping.

id love to have myself a flying trailer park. always my favorite plane.

Lovely photography of an old beauty

That was the last plane my father flew before being stationed in Washington D.C. to fly a desk.

At Edwards AFB in 59 an 60 we would do lots of touch n goes, and when pilots would go up to practice stalls this AC would not stay up on one eng. Always heard they should. it was the D model 3350 eng three turbos lots of power. Lot of memories.

They used several of the old boxcar to do an aerial fish stocking of the kinzua reservoir when the dam was completed. I watched it as a kid from the cemetery on the Quaker run side. I heard that very few of the fish survived the drop though.

flight of the phoenix,

The good old "flying boxcar"...

Is this airplane what they called the Flying Boxcar?

Made my first five jump school jumps from the 119 out of Pope onto Sicily drop zone, and made several more over the two and a half years I was in the 82nd. It was an easy exit because as I recall, the troop doors were angled aft a bit.

First aircraft ride I took was in 119 15 Mar 1958 10 hrs and two stops. just about everyone had given up their Breakfast and Lunch.

That looks like the C-119 used in the 2004 remake of Flight of the Phoenix (I recognized the symbol on the wings and fuselage).

*THE ALL GLORIOUS FLYING BOX-CAR*

they had a glide path like a rock!

The Air National Guard in Birmingham, Al, flew these in the early fifties. My dad made his first airborne jump from a flying boxcar, during WWII.

This was a gooneybird. Everyone had to wear a chute to takeoff and land. I was airborne. Sometimes it wouldn't even get off the ground on cold mornings. Then we would just turn around and try again.

love that film!!!!

PRT's with pressure carbs. One of the 3350's many renditions.

Inspiration for Thunderbird 2.

After landing they can reverse the props and stop real short. If needed we would use them to back up.

Made all 5 jumps in jump school from these.

I've been everywhere man, I've been everywhere. Yes it is the plane used in 'The flight of the Phoenix" Glory never gets so big. Or someone painted that logo on another C-119. The underside should be black.

Great for driving around in the desert when it can't take off .

I know this aircraft as packet in Indian airforce in 1966

Memories

Jumped from a C119 4X at Ft Benning in 1969

She had a couple loose panels up around the nose where some rivets had popped!

@Emotator the awful remake you mean yes, that is a C-119 like this .... but the great movie" Fight of the Phoenix" 1965, is a C -82, the predecessor of the C 119 The logo looks like the one for NOAA

che bell'aereo..tipico anni 40/50.

I love fly and oldest aircraft

that time a dc3 and a p38 had a bastard love child

Earthquake McGoon flew one of these when he was shot down in VietNam

First plane I ever flew in. They gave us all parachutes. Kind of made me a lot more nervous.

Mitico C119 nel 71 a Pisa brevetto militare e civile grande

Made many jumps from these in states and overseas.

Jumped the c119 in 1955 fort bragg 82 airborne 17 years old

The flying turtle...low and slow...

Puff the Magic Dragon.

First plane i jumped out of.

These planes were called the flying boxcar and know for being under powered and there frightening handling. Later on they mounted a smal jet engine on top of. above the cabin and wing that did nothing for runway performance

Some examples have one or two Westinghouse turbojets

@donoesau The C-82's cockpit is much higher up and further back, and its nose is blunter.

they had their share of crashes, until the air force grounded them. also some were converted over to gunships and used during the Viet Nam War.

I have a model of this plane, still in the box

What's the ground man doing , Kicking Jack Rabbits out of the way ?

Unless something changed in the last six months, there are four flying. Including this one.

Unless things changed in the last six months, I count four still flying. Including this one.

Is this the one used for "Flight of the Phoenix"? I recognize the insignia.

Evviva la bara volante e la Folgore

Nice

Is this the same plane that was used in "flight of the phoenix" with Dennis Quaid? The logo on the side looks familiar,

This particular plane only had 3350's on it instead of the 4360

That kinda reminds me of TaleSpin.

wasn't that plane in flight of the pheonix or was that con-air

Quando eu cresçer eu vou ser piloto e ter esse avião

Make a great home

Model airplane..hes mad Lou..😂

is this plane use during the Korean war?

oh man ... my plan would be to get that last flying plane then, give it a Seaduck livery from Tailspin and go offer aerobatic flights with it at Disneyland... does anyone know what g-limits they could handle?

Look like C - 123 Provider.

Why is the engine starting with shortgun bullets?

@Emotator yep it is ;)

This arplane appears to be a c82 judging by the windows in the front.

Filmed on a motorola razr

This is literally worse than 144p

Flying Boxcar

TaleSpin

In one sense it's a shame this plane existed as it provided the premise for the utterly PoS movie, "Flight of the Phoenix" - two hours of people sitting around the desert building a completely implausible aircraft and ten minutes of excitement. How the story actually sold in BOOK form is beyond me as how do you narrate the tale? A blow-by-blow account of cutting this and welding that? And you don't weld aluminum with a torch it requires shielded arc welding.

Gotta luv those engine sounds. Serial Number 10955 Status Expired Mfg; FAIRCHILD Certificate Issue Date 12/02/2015 Model C-119G-3E Expiration Date 12/31/2018 Type Aircraft Fixed Wing Multi-Engine. ---- Name LAURIDSEN HANS O Street 2610 E MOHAWK LN #120 , City PHOENIX State ARIZONA County MARICOPA 85050. ---- Engine Manufacturer WRIGHT Classification Experimental Engine Model R-3350-34&94; . A/W Date 06/29/2004; 030519.