Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar

I was a loadmaster on them. The noise in the cargo compartment got to 139DB at meto power. Pain threshold is 133. It was noisy but bareable with ear plugs and headset push tight as possible.

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P.S to early post During a summer camp 129th CANG Hayward,ca spent at alpena mi I rode to travis city mi to pick up supplies. Apon wheels up leaving travis city the left engine blew a jug[cyl] on the lower side of the engine. oil pored out and caught on fire on outide of engine nuclei and lower wing area. {as a aircraft electrian that worked on this plane I was glad that the fire detectors worked and set off a alarm]but the shaking and noise told you there was a problem. Most of the ang pilot were commercial pilots who enjoyed flying a airplane they flew. I believe the pilot was the base commander Col Konic the prop was feathered and we landed with the fire blowing its self out after running out of oil.
IN 1971 /72 the 129th flew to pope afb nc fort bragg. while there the army used are 119s to night jump. I went on several night jumps to watch I was 21 /22 and wanted to see everything.It was common for the army jumpers to try to take a souvenir with them out the plane after replacing 2 toilet seat that missing and presumed to have went out the back we hide it till after the jumps.During one night jump a jumper tried to take the carbon pile voltage regulator that was in a snap in mount inside behind the jump seat against the fuselage they were used to parallel the two engine power plants. I had stated the app on A deck and replaced it the next day after parallel them again. SGT KJ Freeman 129 th SAC CANG Hayward Ca. P.S. yes we were SAC?

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I flew in the C-119s as a radio op while with the 582 AR Squadron at RAF Molesworth, England. One Saturday morning we going up to do a little "flag-pole flying" on a plane which had just come out of maintenance. It seems someone forgot to tighten a pulley on the horizontal stabilizer or elevator and just as we broke ground, I was in the jump-seat and we went into what I thought was a short field take-off which we practiced often. Not so. The nose of the aircraft just wanted to go straight up. Immediately the navigator was between the left and right seat with a hand on each control column trying to force the nose down, with not much luck. The engineer then tried to wedge a block of wood between the column and the base of the pilot's seat.
Again no luck. I was told to send a MAYDAY. Shortly thereafter the pilot said that any of us who wanted to go back an bail out. Nobody did. By reducing the airspeed to almost stall speed, and with the navigator and I pushing on the control columns we were able to get it in a slight nose down attitude. We were cleared to attempt a landing and after turning on final we got a red light on the landing gear. Just what we didn't need. It was decided we were going to attempt to land anyway. The gears held and as soon as possible the engines were shut down immediately. That having been said, I would fly in one of those old birds today.

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69th TC Sd, 433 TCWing, Donaldson AFB -Entire wing flew to Frankfurt, Germany July /August 1951 with brand new C-119. Wrote "Mission to NATO" for Air Force Museum magazine "FRIENDS Journal" Summer 2013. (Vol 36-No.2). Path was Donaldson AFB, Greenville, S.C. to Westover AFB, Massachusetts, to Goose Bay, Labrador, to BW-1, Greenland, to Keflavik, Iceland, to Prestwick, Scotland and finally to Rhine Main at Frankfurt, Germany. Flew all over Europe (in front of Iron Curtain) for next couple years.

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Continue,, I started as as an incompetent Ensign but got enough experience to spend the next 30 years flying for American Airlines retiring on the767

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What sbout the R4Q-2 ? I flew it several years in Fleet Tactical Two Four before leaving to Join American Airlines. Country Club Duty in the Me

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I worked on c119 while in cang Hayward ca 1969 /1975 flew on them to summer camps in boise id,alpena mi,fayetville nc[pope] Is a aircraft electrican 42350 during flights I spent most of my time on a deck with the app. The view from there was great. We flew over the crater in az and down inside the grand canyon on are two day trip to pope. The 129 was a lot of fun and I enjoyed every uta@summercamp.

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I still remember my dad working at Steward & Davis ,flying the C-82's and the death of Cecil Johns ,my dad was suppose to fly that mission but ,couldn't because of a severe cold, so he gave Cecil his watch because didn't have his before take off .When the plane crashed in Mexico ,they thought it was my dad that had died because all they found was my dad's watch !!I got the day off at school,At Jefferson jr.high long beach ca.My dad died a few years later in a plane crash at river side airport in bad weather on his birthday ,11 /25 /1970 thank you , Donald A.Pardew private pilot .

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I flew on the AC-119 Gunship as Flight Engineer, two tours in South East Asia. Call sign: "Shadow."

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I was stationed with the 101st Airborne at Ft. Campbell, KY and made many jumps from the C-119. It was a great plane for jumping especially by tailgate. It was a real challenge for it to take off with a full load of paratroopers. Some anxious moments but a lot of fun.

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Have seen several comments in this C-119G string from folks who served in my unit or affiliated units. If you would like contact me at my email address, which is "jcostell@charter.net", please do. I served in the USAFRes from 1960-1967 as a flight engineer (SSgt) AFSC A43171A, with 327th TCS, 512th TCW, Willow Grove NAS, Pennsylvania. The sister unit at WGNAS was the 326th TCS also at WGNAS. Our third squadron in the Wing was stationed at Niagara Falls, NY. We all were federalized for the Cuban Missile Crisis by President John F. Kennedy. Remember that? Got most of my information from the Philadelphia Inquirer or Bulletin because our military briefings were "top secret." Fond recollections. Jim Costello, SSgt, long gone.

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I made about 30 or 40 jumps from the c119 ,between 1953 and and 1956,It was a hell ofa good airplane.some how the pilots were able to take off and control the plane with a whole platoon with full combat gear and drop us safely over the DZ. Many thanks to the pilots that flew the c119

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I flew the C-119 out of Ashiya, Japan during 1953-55. TDY to Clark AFB (Luzon, Philippines) April-October 1954 in support of French forces besieged at Bien Dien Phu. last flight to Haiphong Oct. '54. Flew the bird in reserve sqdron at Bradley Field, Hartford, CT 1958. One landing saw one prop fail to reverse and an engine out on ferry mission enroute from Johnson Is. to Hickham (Hawaii) Nov. 1954. Another at night over Pitsberg, Pa while flying with the reserve sqdron. Over-all I was pleased with the "Flying Boxcar" known as the C-119.

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I was sent TDY from Eglin AFB, Florida, to join a group of men at Lockborne AFB, Ohio, to prepare (36) , C-119 Gunships to fly to Viet Nam. We removed the mini guns, the flare launcher, Gunners Station, and all the armament. we taged every nut, bolt, and part and crated everything by aircraft tail number for shipment. We then installed three 600gallon fuel tanks in the cargo bay and plumbed them into the fuel system, expanding its fuel capasity by 1800 gallons for the flight to Viet Nam. The first aircraft took us 5 days to complete the transformation and we did not know how we were going to get all 36 aircraft ready for transport in the 60 days we were alotted. Somehow with good leadership, good planning, alot of work, and great commentment from a crew that had never worked together or even knew each other, we completed or task. During all of this, the base had an ORI and someone from Weapons or munitions, backed a flatbed truck into one of the C119's causing a 2ft x 4ft dent in the fuelsage just below the right rear jump door. This had to be fixed so that the aircraft could fly in the ORI the next day. Because I was the sheetmetal man, I was ask if we could get it fixed before the ORI. Me and my team and a couple of sheetmetal men from the base, worked all night, and got it ready to fly by morning for the ORI. The reason I told this story is because I don't remember any of the guy's names, but I still recall all of their faces, and I would like to say Thanks Guy's for a Job Well Done ! You will always be a special memmory of my 4 years in the Air Force. If any of you guys that were there, remember me or this story, I would like to hear from you. I'm 67 now and I was 22 then, so some of the guys may not still be around.

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I am trying to find information regarding a C119 plane crash in Pyongyang toward the end of the Korean War (1953). I am a social worker and one of my patients rescued some war correspondents that were in that crash (he was in a Air Force plane idling nearby; I am trying to help him find any of the survivors; please email me at renlu92@hotmail.com if you have any information regarding this crash. Thank you!

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I was in the AF Reserves and my Unit had C-119's my first four years. I flew from Ohio to Savanna Georgia for summer camp Aug 1969. It was a loud interesting ride.

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I was an Aerodynamicist at Fairchild Aircraft in Haerstown Maryland regaining my former job there after serving 2 years in WWII. My job was to evaluate the effect of various external items C119 Aircraft. I was primarily computing performance on the C119 whose maximum take off weight of 72500 Lbs was set by 100 foot a minute rate of climb at sea level on one engine. Later on I was primary aerodynamicist on the Big Wing C119H which had 2018 Square feet of wing area versus the 1447.25 area of the C119. It had large effective flaps and flew like a big bird. Had room for 4 engines but it was too difficult weight wise to pressureize the fuselage because of its rectangular shape and it lst out to the oncoming C130.

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I composed a long post about these planes, that somehow got lost in cyberspace as i tried to "send" it. Anyway, maybe for the best, as I had confused this plane, the C-119, with the earlier version, the C-82, which was in use during WWII. I will recap, breifly, that my dad, who was wounded in the battle of Anzio, probably was flown for staging for that battle, and possibly evacuated following, in a C-82. Also, my uncle Frank (Ginter,younger brother of my dad Andrew) lost his life when the C-82 he was riding on his way to R&R crashed into a mountainside in Borneo, during the last days of WWII. (that tragic crash was documented in the book "A Missing Plane") The reason I didn't post this on the C-82's page, is mostly due to my inattention to detail, when i did a "google images" search for "flying boxcar", the C-119 popped up. Dad used to point at C-119's flying over Western N.Y. in the early '60's whenever he saw one, and tell us kids to "look at the flying boxcar". He had a great affinity for these planes, (the older, C-82 version), in my "missing post", I also explained that I have been trying to gather information about my relative's combat and etc. history during the war, that as oldest son, I was not allowed to enlist in the Infantry, but that all of the male relatives who WEREN't oldest sons had enlisted, or were drafted, and most of them are now deceased.(besides dad and uncle Frank,two uncles on mom's side were stationed at Aberdeen, England as ground crew during WWII, Bob and Richard Santuci, a great- aunt of ours was a first lieutenant with the WAAC's, and a younger brother, Bill Ginter enlisted sucessfully, went to the Middle East, and completed Air Assult school at Ft. Campbell) I also expressed an interest in these old planes, stated that I have applied to aircraft mechanic's school, would like to possibly go for my civilian pilot's license, and asked that someone talk me out of it(!). (Based on my family's unfortunate history with flying and combat) In my "lost" post, I also asked if anyone could help me find one of the veteran's brigades that refurbishes and flies these old planes, I would like to join one. thanks. Andy Ginter (upstate N.Y.) (proud son of a combat vet.)

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Boy, I guess my attention to detail might be a problem once I get into aircraft mechanic's school! The plane that my dad jumped out of during WWII, and also the plane that my uncle Frank Ginter died in, (after it crashed into the mountainside in Borneo), MUST have been the C-82, NOT the C-119. But the planes that dad would point out to us, flying over western N.Y. in the early '60's WERE C-119's, probably, as I stated, flying out of the Niagara Falls fueling depot.I just went and re- read the description of the C-119, and realized that it replaced the C-82's, which would have been in use during WWII. Dad referred to all planes with the C-119's familiar profile as "flying boxcars" so- correction.

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Loved the aircraft. Served as a flight engineer with several AF reserve units (Willow Grove NAS, PA & L.G. Hanscom Field, near Boston). Trained at Sheppard AFB, Wichita Falls, TX. Have about 2,000 flight hours as the crew chief. Served from '61 to '66. All my time was in the "G" model with the 3350-35A engines and four-bladed props.

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