I was a Load Master in the Air Force Reserve in the 328th TAS at Niagara AFB in the 1960's. I have 280 hours of flight time in my log. She was a noisy air plane, especially on take off. In fact on take off the prop wash was so loud I would mash my head set against my ears but could still, feel my ear drums vibrate. I am now 80 years old and have some hearing loss as a result. Other than that the rest of flights were generally pretty good. Thye one trip I will never forget was from Patric AFB with 3 stops to deliver 3 palatized hospitals for project Gemini 6 up the East Coast with us ending the day at Goose Bay Labrador. It was a very long day but I will never forget flying through "The Northern Lights". It is absolutely spectacular! The black sky shimmers in a kind of yellow-green shimmer! I have never seen anything like before or since.
My dad flew the C-119 during the mid 60s and until early 70s with the California air national guard 129th out of Hayward Ca. There longest flight was from California to Vietnam in about 1971 . The mission was to turn some early models over to the south Vietnamese . They did the island hop all the way over . He loved this aircraft.
I crewed on C-119G aircraft from 1954-1956 at Ashiya AFB, Japan. While this aircraft was ideal for paratroops as they would jump with the clam-shell doors closed and just the jump doors open making the cargo compartment much quieter while in flight. This model did have a major mechanical problem which caused at least 3 crashes: Hydraulic prop regulators failed without warning, a problem caused by having the regulators shipped across the Pacific Ocean without being protected from salt air. I was crewing in February, 1955, when our starboard prop reversed while on take-off roll (@ +/- 55mph) at Tachikawa AFB with 18 passengers and 13 million $ of MPC(remember those?) My left seat pilot very quickly reversed the port engine prop and we rolled to a hard stand to analyze the problem. We set up our failed regulator at Tachikawa's bench stand and discovered the hydraulic fluid was corrupted and failed to hold the propellers in the position set by the prop switch in the cockpit. We caused the grounding of all C-119Gs for a month until new regulators could be shipped from Texas. We, the crew, were stuck in Tachikawa with only our flight suits so we could not go off base. Beside, we had no money as we missed payday back at Ashiya. Our Chief pilot gave us $10 each to buy cigarettes and other stuff we might need while having to spend the month away from our home base. Friends did bring us some of our uniform clothing about day 5 so at lease we could shower.
I remember boxcars flying over pretty frequently when I was a younger kid. They were the easiest planes to identify for a little tike, with the twin booms.
My family live under the flight path of Norton AFB. I remember that they were to only plane that rattled the windows. I thought that it was a great design.
I was in the 501 St. Airborne Infantry , 101st Airborne Division from July 1955 through February 1957, When I received my M. D release. at Fort Campbell, Ky. I have continued serving as a Volunteer Fund Raiser for our Fallen Warriors and MIA 's as well as the Gold Star families. I was recognized on 11/11/2017 for my continues Volunteer service as an Advocate and Fund Raiser. This will be my last year I serve as of 11 / 11 / 2022. I have been recognized by two President's as well as Congressmen and women on both sides of the house. I was honored with a B-29 Bomber flight from Congressman Doug Lamalfa on 11 / 11 / 2017. You can see my Memorial Car I drive honoring all Veterans on: Raymond Ray F. Pittam, It is a 1901 Curved Dash Oldsmobile Replica I retrieved out of a Forest Fire and rebuilt. I have traveled from California to Missouri as well as many places between in the car,.
The one thing that stands out in my memory of these planes is when I was in Basic Training. This was in 1968 at the height of the Viet Nam war.I was training at Fort Lewis Wash.Our Drill Sargeant would remind us if we screwed up we'd be coming home in one of those and he would point up to those planes.Every day they would fly in bringing the war dead from 'Nam . It really brought home the message
I was in the 82nd Airborne 1966, 1967. Made 8 jumps from this aircraft. People think I am joking when I would tell them the crew chief walked around with a wrench tightening bolts. Glad I flew in one though.
I was a member of the 781st Troop Carrier Sqd--We left Donaldson AFB and took the whole base to Weisbaden Germany in 1953-We also stayed at Toul France and finally to Evereux France I left in June 1956 I was a flight engineer on a/c 51-2637 and flew to many places such as Africa,Norway,England,Holland ,French Morroco,Tripoli,Tunis,Casablanca,Athens,Thule Greenland,even a ferry job back to SAC headquarters at Omaha Neb,Iceland,Scotland,The Azores,--The Boxcar was a fine ship and I never had a mishap--we hauled a lot of materials from Abomb war heads to toilet paper--Discharged in June of 1956 and returned to St.Louis Mo to attend U of missouri
I lived in Hagerstown, MD as a kid. In the early to mid 1960s, I remember well C-119s flying over my house. They were easy to identify because of their unique planform. Production had ended by then, but they were flown into Hagerstown for modification. I remember some of my friends’ fathers work at Fairchild. It was a big employer back then. I was always fascinated by airplanes and flying, even back then. That led me to a flying career.
Cool! My Dad was a flight mechanic in 1957 and i still have a maintenance/flight handbook for a C-119G from august 1957. Shows lots of aircraft spec's,size,weights, and emergency procedures.... Really like stuff from the past before everything turned to plastic.
Ron ,i was a 20 yr old flight mech on c-119 D model out of Edwards Air Force Base 1958 to 62. It came from El Centro a jump School ,we wer a support squadron, we wer all over th states, A lot of stuff was done an told no talken. The D model had 3350ci ,3 turbos put out 3350 Hp. Was a very busy time n lots of storys.Great guys on flight line. 🤠👍🏼
Flew these in the USAFR in Indiana 1967 for awhile. They all were taken to be used as gunships in Vietnam. Some went to Nakhon Phanom, Thailand, where I was flying HH-43 air rescue helicopters (1/1/65-5/1/65).
brings back a lot of memories for me. I jumped these planes from Ft. Campbell, Ky and The 11th Airborne. I did jump school there and was assigned to 187th ARCT. in 1955. Was re-assigned to another battalion later when the unit was deployed and I didn't have enough enlistment left to go along. These were pretty early models, so I'm assuming they were powered with 3350's, but I know later aircraft were powered with the "corn cob" the 4360. I enjoyed every minute of flight time in these birds
My father was in the USAF and we were stationed at Évreux-Fauville Air Base in France, from 1956 to 1960. My dad worked at Biase Operations and I remember the C-119 well. We also had a number of C-47 and C-54 aircraft. We flew to and from Frankfort. Our route home was Frankfort to Preswick, Scotland, to St. John's, Newfoundland. Our C-119s were replaced in 1959 -1960 with C-130s.
I made my 5 jumps at Ft. Benning Airborne School in '64 out of C-119's. Stayed at Benning in the 11th Air Assault and did several more out of "Flying Boxcars". After doing a tour of 'Nam, came home and went to Ft. Campbell where I made a couple more jumps out of C-119's. They were pretty much phased out by that time. Interesting plane. It was a wonderful plane to jump out of but it flew like a bathtub full of water. Always had guys who got sick flying in it.
As a child living in the KC area, I would see these flying overhead, probably headed for the Olathe Naval Air Station. Fairchild proposed to modify this into the XC-120 "Packplane." The concept was to have an aircraft that could pick up a pre-packaged fuselage, fly to the destination, and drop it off, picking up another one for the next flight. The concept first showed up in "Tom Swift and His Airline Express," published in 1926.
I was a paratrooper that jumped out of these things. Made of Reynolds Wrap....colliding with another jumper on exit ( port and starboard exits at tail) was a regular thing, with lines tangled toger, or one standing on top of the others parachute.
They have one of these at the AMC Museum at Dover Airbase. It's a nice place to go if you like aircraft of any kind. They probably have some you have fond memories of.
In the late '50s I saw the C-119's over my house during the cold war. Indlps.,Ind. It was rare, but not unusual. In 1964 I made my training jumps from a C-119 at Fort Benning,Georgia. I eventually jumped the C-124, C-141, & the C-130, I have to say, -the C-119 was my favorite plane to jump! Hope you get the chance!
In 1967 I was in the AFROTC at what was then called Newark College of Enginnering (now called NJIT). They getook us on a trip to Wright Paterson AFB in a C-119.
I was a flight engineer/mechanic with the 73 Troop Carriers out of Scott AFB 1957 to 1962 sent my plane and crew to Florida during the Cuban crises but was sent back home after one week of doing nothing
I might have seen you guys flying into Scott Field. I lived on the west side of O'Fallon and would see C-119s on their approach. C-124s would lumber in too in their day.
I remember the Flying Boxcars Flying in a out of the Hayward Airport (Hayward, Ca). I watched them flying over my Grammar school During recess When I was a Kid in the mid 60's
+Joy of Lego I recall seeing them flying low over my town of Westport IN in the 50s and early 60s. It seems like I saw some of the crew standing at the big cargo door behind a net. Of course I waved at 'em and they waved back. I was very young but that's how I remember it. Anyone else?
Saw them in action in Viet Nam converted to gunships with two 20mm and four 7.62 mm Gatling Guns. Every 5th round was a tracer, and at night it looked like a red laser beam from the ship to the ground.
I flew in this plane when I was at luke afb in Arizona, we flew missions to feed people on the reservations I think it was the winter of 1968 it was supposed to have made the history books
0:50 Correction: C-119 engines were not 2650hp but 3500hp - not an increase of 550hp but 1400hp (from the C-82s 2100hp engines). This might be conversion confusion with 3500hp being 2600kw.
Back in March 1958 while in the USAF, a few of us stationed in Iceland flew in a c-54 to St John's Newf, and from there on a C-119 to Goose Bay for the Tops In Blue contest. Naturally we were seated in the cargo area and could see the rear tail section boluncing up and down. I thought the damn thing might break off it was going up and down so much. We had to wear "chutes" because we were told that a C-119 had gone down about a month before. ( when 1 engine is gone this a/c doesn't glide at all, just goes straight down ) Whew. We made it back safely, as you can tell by my commenting here.
Gee, generally poor engine-out flight characteristics are enough to disqualify any multi-engined plane from an airworthiness certificate, let alone military service.
@@russg1801 The C-119 along with the C-123 really stretched the limits of available piston engine horsepower, but at the time of manufacture, it was one of the only options available. They eventually mounted jets engines on both aircraft trying to compensate for the not enough horsepower situation.
@@russg1801 air crew usmc cherry point, n.c. '53/'57 . ferried c119's (r4q's) in and out of corpus Christy for 1000 hr maintenance. part of the certification was to shut 1 engine down (while in flight) turn it back on and shut the other engine down. never a problem flying. the twin r3350's were big enough for this plane. very few were fitted with jatos. only needed on very short runways. flew all over the world in flying boxcars. miss those days
Continued - this C-119 was very old and in bad shape. It was loud and very slow. You could see the ground thru the separated floor panels. It took us 3 hours to fly from Newark to Wright Pat. Couldn’t hear anything when we got off the plane. On the return trip, when we slammed into the runway in Newark, one of the rear doors flew open. What a trip!
NEED SOME HELP! My grandfather was a C119 mechanic before Korea broke out, and told me his squadron (29th troop carrier squadron) ferried West Point grads in a large formation around the country. It really bought back great memories for him, and I'm trying to find some online articles or info...
Sorry for the very late reply. There were about 10 or 12 Boxcars stationed at Stewart AFB in Newburgh, N.Y. around 1957 to 1967. Can't say if they were there earlier. On weekends they flew in formations of 3 planes in as many as 3 groups, maybe doing touch and goes on Saturdays and Sundays.. They would make 2 or 3 passes a day over my house. Maybe your Grandad worked out of Newburgh, which is close to West Point.
Flew in them in the us airforce reserve. Correct me if I am wrong. It had no glide path. If you shut off the engines it would drop like a rock. I don't think it could stay up on one engine took a long time getting off the ground. Could carry 70 or so troops and their equipment
A drive in lower Deck hydroliic pump system. If a foldable door is more helpful still install pump system to stiffen Deck. If magnetic attachments are allowed to help a self elevation stablation.
I was flying in the aircraft so many time on 1974 agra INDIA as a 2nd Bengal air squadron NCC cadet for Para trooping training, there was a squadron of C-119 17 para. it was a great aircraft.
Engineer this aircraft with turbine motors. The rear tail has a split adjustment that helps steer such as a flap wing make the motors to meet the FAA guidelines of noise.
I was wondering how many of those 119s crashed? They seem like they were ready to fall apart and at NAS Minneapolis and Glenview they didn't need fuel they needed OIL.
Earthquake McGoon's C-119 picked up some flak after his drop to the French at Dien Bien Phu. He made it to where he was going, but damage caused him to hit a tree and that's how he got it. Later, The French wanted John Verdi to fly out a bunch of prisoners. Because of the poor single engine performance of the 119, Verdi demanded that the prisoners had to be shackled to pallets so they could be shoved out in an emergency. Even though it made rational sense, even the French didn't have the stomach for it.
Well..I jumped out of these "flying box cars back in the 1955-1958 era here in the USA and then in Germany with the 11th airborne Division in Augsburg , Germany..they were called "flying coffins' by us..paratroopers! they were almost seemingly under powered!!
I remember when I was a small child seeing them flying over head. I use to say they were bombers! broke my heart when I was told they were cargo planes, I wanted them to be bombers.
I flew with a guy that piloted this aircraft in the Pacific. He stated that it was so underpowered, that when taking off, if there was a ship one hundred miles away, he would have hit it.
From 1953 until 1957, I flew the C-119G as Instructor and test pilot.I only had 1800 +- hrs in this A./C but had no problems. This airplane did not want to fly high but it's main job was to drop people and cargo. Would love to go up again. Edgar (Kinny) Kinnier ex USAF
Took several RTs from Minneapolis to Scott AFB in Illinois in Boxcars 1959-1963 as a CAP cadet. Roomy but very noisy. Still, it allowed a teenager to pretend he was a paratrooper for a few hours.
The old flying boxcar! It was a great transport. A great airframe. And with its 10,000-pound payload it was a very, very useful aircraft. A great American aeroplane, I mean, airplane. Last flown by the Chinese Air Force in 1997, eh? Great value for money!
Could anyone out there tell me when this Aircraft was last used for Airborne Troops? That is, when was the last time they were used in Paratrooper Service ( what year?) This Beauty was one of my favorites as a young boy in love with Airplanes and flying...I recall they were used to Air Deliver hay for cattle that were freezing in Utah ( ? I think it was Utah ? ) during a very severe winter. A great American Airplane.
While with the 20th SF Group we jumped the C 119 in 65,66, and 67. They were being flown by a ANG unit out of Mobile, AL. I know they were one of the last to use these aircraft, so I would guess some where in the late 60's.
My dad used to jump out of the planes. He was in the 82nd and after I got his service record found out he was also in the 101st as well. Served during Korea!
I heard about the C-119 Boxcar, but never got to see any in service upon entering the Air Force in 1968. I heard that they was used along with the C-123 to fly out dead bodies from Vietnam.
Not much of a "history", just a brief summary of how and when, then some fifties-era feelgood words, and the remainder is Fairchild factory footage accompanied by an upbeat theme song. A number of ex-USAF C-119 aircraft ended up serving in Taiwan's ROCAF (Republic of China Air Force, a.k.a. TAF) from the late 1950s until 1997. In 1995, Taiwan's ROCAF bought a squadron of new E-2 Hawkeye AEW aircraft; included in the deal was our Northrop Grumman on-site field support services team living in Taiwan. Right outside my office window on their ROCAF base in Ping Tung was a line of C-119 "Flying Boxcars", usually parked facing away from the building. When they started those big R-4360 engines, they were close enough to paint my windows with flecks of engine oil in their exhaust. Nice!
C-82 Packet It’s large cargo nose made difficult pilot vision. Unfortunately suffering from poor single engine performance. It had same general layout as a German glider from the thirty’s. Hagerstown Maryland. They were simply asking too much of her power plants and airframe. Original design of plywood and steel where possible.
If memory serves me right about plane type...the first 15 minutes in a C119 felt like the plane was going to fall apart....and then I realized we were just idling on runway. Try contour flying in a C47 at nighttime....why is that church steeple higher up than us?
I had over 100 hours frying in those aircraft we had to wear a parachute harness and we we’re seated on a chute if the plane was going to go down we could jump. Ya right. Noisey. Shaking One trip was cross county from Andrews to Yuma 23 hours 4 stops hot miserable but after a few more trips on hops to other bases they got to be ok little. Nervous but what the hell I had s chute USMC 63-69 we called them R4Q’s
From 1954-1958 as a USAF bandsman/musician I logged many flight hours in just about all the USAF troop carrier aircraft: C-46, C-47, C-54, C-118, C-119, C-123, C-124. Many of those flight hours were in the C-119 while with the USAF Drum and Bugle Corps out of Bolling AFB, Washington, DC. At Itazuke AFB, Japan the 119 saved many lives one night Due to deteriorating weather we nearly went right into a mountain and the pilot advised us later that had we been in any other aircraft we'd have bought it but the powerful engines of the 119 took us up and over. Ironically we lost four bandsmen in NY state when a 119 went down after take-off. We referred to the Flying Boxcar as the Flying Coffin.
