Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairch..._Flying_Boxcar

The Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar (Navy and Marine Corps designation R4Q) is an
American military transport aircraft developed from the World War II-era
Fairchild C-82 Packet, designed to carry cargo, personnel, litter patients, and
mechanized equipment, and to drop cargo and troops by parachute. The first C-119
made its initial flight in November 1947, and by the time production ceased in
1955, more than 1,100 C-119s had been built. Its cargo-hauling ability and
unusual twin-boom design earned it the nickname "Flying Boxcar".

The Air Force C-119 and Navy R4Q was initially a redesign of the earlier C-82
Packet, built between 1945 and 1948. The Packet provided service to the Air
Force's Tactical Air Command and Military Air Transport Service for nearly nine
years during which time its design was found to have several serious problems.
All of these were addressed in the C-119.

In contrast to the C-82, the cockpit was moved forward to fit flush with the
nose rather than its previous location over the cargo compartment. This resulted
in more usable cargo space and larger loads than the C-82 could accommodate. The
C-119 also featured more powerful engines, and a wider and stronger airframe.
The first C-119 prototype (called the XC-82B) first flew in November 1947, with
deliveries of C-119Bs from Fairchild's Hagerstown, Maryland factory beginning in
December 1949.

In 1951, Henry J. Kaiser was awarded a contract to assemble additional C-119s at
the Kaiser-Frazer automotive factory located in the former B-24 plant at Willow
Run Airport in Belleville, Michigan. Initially, the Kaiser-built C-119F differed
from the Fairchild aircraft by the use of Wright R-3350-85 Duplex Cyclone
engines in place of Fairchild's use of the Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major
radial engine. Kaiser built 71 C-119s at Willow Run in 1952 and 1953 (AF Ser.
No. 51-8098 to 51-8168) before converting the factory for a planned production
of the Chase C-123 that never eventuated. The Kaiser sub-contract was frowned
upon by Fairchild, and efforts were made through political channels to stop
Kaiser's production, which may have proven successful. Following Kaiser's
termination of C-119 production the contract for the C-123 was instead awarded
to Fairchild. Most Kaiser-built aircraft were issued to the U.S. Marine Corps as
R4Qs, with several later turned over to the South Vietnamese air force in the
1970s.


Role
Military transport aircraft

Manufacturer
Fairchild Aircraft

First flight
17 November 1947

Introduction
December 1949

Retired
1995 Republic of China Air Force

Primary users
United States Air Force
United States Navy
United States Marine Corps

Produced
1949–1955

Number built
1,183

Developed from
Fairchild C-82 Packet

Variants
Fairchild AC-119

Developed into
Fairchild XC-120 Packplane

The aircraft saw extensive action during the Korean War as a troop and equipment
transport. In July 1950, four C-119s were sent to FEAF for service tests. Two
months later, the C-119 deployed with the 314th Troop Carrier Group and served
in Korea throughout the war.

From 1951 to 1962, C-119C, F and G models served with U.S. Air Forces in Europe
(USAFE) and Far East Air Forces (FEAF) as the first-line Combat Cargo units, and
did yeoman work as freight haulers with the 60th Troop Carrier Wing, the 317th
Troop Carrier Wing and the 465th Troop Carrier Wing in Europe, based first in
Germany and then in France with roughly 150 aircraft operating anywhere from
Greenland to India. A similar number of aircraft served in the Pacific and the
Far East. In 1958, the 317th absorbed the 465th, and transitioned to the C-130s,
but the units of the former 60th Troop Carrier Wing, the 10th, 11th and 12th
Troop Carrier Squadrons, continued to fly C-119s until 1962, the last non-Air
Force Reserve and non-Air National Guard operational units to fly the "Boxcars."

The USAF Strategic Air Command had C-119 Flying Boxcars in service from 1955 to
1973.

Perhaps the most remarkable use of the C-119 was the aerial recovery of
balloons, UAVs, and even satellites. The first use of this technique was in
1955, when C-119s were used to recover Ryan AQM-34 Firebee unmanned targets.[5]
The 456th Troop Carrier Wing, which was attached to the Strategic Air Command
(SAC) from 25 April 1955 – 26 May 1956, used C-119s to retrieve instrument
packages from high-altitude reconnaissance balloons. C-119s from the 6593rd Test
Squadron based at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii performed several aerial
recoveries of film-return capsules during the early years of the Corona spy
satellite program. On 19 August 1960, the recovery by a C-119 of film from the
Corona mission code-named Discoverer 14 was the first successful recovery of
film from an orbiting satellite and the first aerial recovery of an object
returning from Earth orbit.

The C-119 went on to see extensive service in French Indochina, beginning in
1953 with aircraft secretly loaned by the CIA to French forces for troop
support. These aircraft were generally flown in French markings by American CIA
pilots often accompanied by French officers and support staff. The C-119 was to
play a major role during the siege at Dien Bien Phu, where they flew into
increasingly heavy fire while dropping supplies to the besieged French
forces.[7] The only two American pilot casualties of the siege at Dien Bien Phu
were James B. McGovern, Jr. and Wallace A. Buford. Both pilots, together with a
French crew member, were killed in early June, 1954, when their C-119, while
making an artillery drop, was hit and crippled by Viet Minh anti-aircraft fire;
the aircraft then flew an additional 75 miles (121 km) into Laos before it
crashed.

After retirement from active duty, substantial numbers of C-119s and R4Qs
soldiered on in the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, the Air Force Reserve and the
Air National Guard until the mid-1970s, the R4Qs also being redesignated as
C-119s in 1962. The last military use of the C-119 by the United States ended in
1974 when a single squadron of Navy Reserve C-119s based at Naval Air Facility
Detroit/Selfridge Air National Guard Base near Detroit, Michigan, and two
squadrons based at Naval Air Station Los Alamitos, California replaced their
C-119s with newer aircraft.

Many C-119s were provided to other nations as part of the Military Assistance
Program, including Belgium, Brazil, Ethiopia, India, Italy, Jordan, Taiwan, and
(as previously mentioned) South Vietnam. The type was also used by the Royal
Canadian Air Force, and by the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps
under the designation R4Q until 1962 when they were also redesignated as C-119.

Specifications (C-119C)

General characteristics
Crew: 5 (pilot, co-pilot, navigator, radio operator and crew chief)
Capacity: 67 troops or 35 stretchers or 27,500 lb (12,500 kg) cargo[111]
Length: 86 ft 6 in (26.37 m)
Wingspan: 109 ft 3 in (33.30 m)
Height: 26 ft 6 in (8.08 m)
Wing area: 1,447 sq ft (134.4 m2)
Empty weight: 39,800 lb (18,053 kg)
Gross weight: 64,000 lb (29,030 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 74,000 lb (33,566 kg)
Fuel capacity: 2,800 US gal (2,300 imp gal; 11,000 L)
Powerplant: 2 × Pratt & Whitney R-4360-20W 28-cylinder air-cooled radial
engines, 3,500 hp (2,600 kW) each [N 3]
Propellers: 4-bladed Hamilton-Standard Hydromatic, 15 ft 0 in (4.57 m) diameter

Performance
Maximum speed: 281 mph (452 km/h; 244 kn) at 18,000 ft (5,500 m)
Cruise speed: 200 mph (322 km/h; 174 kn) (70% normal rated power)[111]
Stall speed: 102 mph (164 km/h; 89 kn)
Range: 1,770 mi (1,538 nmi; 2,849 km) with 5,500 lb (2,500 kg) cargo
Service ceiling: 23,900 ft (7,300 m)
Rate of climb: 1,010 ft/min (5.1 m/s)
Take-off run to 50 ft (15 m): 2,300 ft (700 m)
Landing run from 50 ft (15 m): 1,890 ft (580 m)




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