Fairchild C-123 Provider

Jack Dole, e-mail, 19.09.2010 05:06 I flew the C-123B /K out of Nha Trang and Phang Rang in 1967. My last flight was on October 25 was scheduled to be from Saigon to Phan Rang but due to rain, heavy rain, and leaking water onto the center pedistal from the hatch above we started loosing alot of the radios. After an hour and 1 /2 waiting at the number one position for takeoff we had to call it quits and while taxing down runway 25L we were hit by a F-105 landing without clearance. Distroyed two aircraft, two people lost their lives, and after spending many days in the hospital I arrived back in the US on Thanksgiving day via C-141 AirEvac. I wrote an article about this experience that was published in the MAC Flyer October 1980 issue, titled "Hell on Runway 25L". I retired from the USAF in 1985 and from Continental Airlines in 2003. reply

Michael Beasley, e-mail, 07.07.2010 02:30 I'm a former C-130E flight engineer with the 40th TAS when they were still at Pope AFB. Currently, I volunteer on a C-123K (54-0592) used on the airshow circuit. My copy of the Dash-1 states that the battery is "installed in the base of the right electrical compartment forward of the main gear well." To our group's reckoning, there are approximately 21-23 C-123s in various models registered in the FA database for the U.S., but only 7 are in airworthy condition AND flying.0 reply

Richard Goodall, e-mail, 01.08.2010 08:57 Flew the provider out of Nha Trang 66-67. What a experience. However the worst experience was the 13 ferry flights, b models to Haggerstown and k models to Nam. I did fly one B model from Hurlburt to Saigon. Lost an engin over Tyler Tx. That took a week which was bad news as our tour did not start until we hit the war zone. Prop light came on close to ocean station november. Thankfully replenish system worked. Lots of great memories flying the Provider reply

bruce riseman, e-mail, 18.08.2010 18:13 I was a crew chief on the K model with the j85's. Tan son nhut. Anyone remember a shell of a 123 outside the perimeter of a small outpost? Seriously cannabalized. Also any information on a C-123 out of tan son nhut that crashed on the pilots fini flight? 1969-70. reply

Art Richards MSGT USAF ret, e-mail, 09.05.2010 01:47 would like to hear from anyone who in the early 1960s (62-64) who was with the C-123s in SEA and may have known a Sgt Wallace Green (a black airman) have searched for him for years we worked together at Suffolk Co AFB in the1950s. Last I saw him was at Clark maybe 1962)doing low level extraction. Have a few hours in the C-123 myself at Otis AFB. I did learn NOT to fill the tnks on one side with drops- as you then can slide off the drop tank right to the ground!the right main was barely touching the ramp WOW what a climb up on the other wing and pulling that heavy hose up what seemed to be a hundred feet!!! I was VERY nervous. Like others many stories to tell . Art reply

Joseph Tavolacci, e-mail, 23.04.2010 17:29 Can anyone tell me if the C123K had a Battery on the Aircraft, and if it did where was it located, I was a Crew Chief as stated on my previous comments, Please anyone E-mail me at lestav@earthlink.net with this info thanks Joseph Tavolacci reply

christophe nasso, e-mail, 20.04.2010 02:58 hi!i looking for all specifica reply

Joseph Tavolacci, e-mail, 19.04.2010 03:52 I was a Crew Chief on the C123k with the 19th SOSQ from Dec 1968 -Dec 1969 I enjoyed working and Flying on that Airplane, I am 62 year's old now and I was reminesing about that aircraft, I cannot remember it the C123 had a Battery? I remember the APU, that had a pull starter, that always broke, but can any one tell me it the Aircraft had a battery, and where was it located my memory is fading with the year's The Aircraft tail number I think was 682, Please e-mail me anyone and let me know about the battery thanks reply

Terry Luther, e-mail, 29.03.2010 08:37 I flew this airplane (C-123K) out of Lima,Peru over the Andes Mountains to various DEA /SF /INM anti drug bases like Tingo Maria. Great adventure! Had to run the jets almost all the time when loaded. PAX all had to wear Oxygen all the time. I also flew the airplane in Laos for Air America. This is a "Poor Man's C-130! I've flown this bird in some awful WX and been shot up more times than I can remember! Terry in Alaska reply

Paul F. Magnant, e-mail, 24.03.2010 05:32 My dad "Maj. Paul A. Magnant", he retired a Lt Col flew the C-123 in the "Candle Stick" operation. He is now gone but never spoke of his missions, plane or otherwise. He never even told me he was awarded the Distinguished Air Force Cross 1969) for something, we found many medals in a shoe box after he passed away. Dad was always very private about his war experience. I looked on his DD 214 anc can see he was in Viet Nam, most likely stationed in Thialand his entire tour from 68 to 69. He was a navigator. If anyone has information that I could put in a scrap book for his now 6 year old granddaughter to see later it would be a great addition to his family history. reply

Steve Le Chot, e-mail, 02.09.2010 22:06 I worked C-123's at Danang '69-'70 and found it to be quite a workhorse. I was a Hydraulic Tech and it always had a leak, but easy to fix. Always enjoyed watching it back out of its parking space. Don't see that often. reply

Fred Johnsen, e-mail, 04.03.2010 22:27 Does anyone have a comprehensive list of tail numbers for Ranch Hand spray C-123s? Specifically, can anyone confirm if C-123K 54-683 is or is not a former Ranch Hand sprayer? --Fred Johnsen, AFFTC Museum Director reply

L Smith, e-mail, 03.03.2010 17:50 My dad flew in BlackSpot as a navigator. Anyone with info on this craft /crew, please email me. Stationed out of Hurlburt, FL; went to Korea,VietNam,Thailand approx July1968-June1969, with TDY to states late Dec 1968.Crew members: Col. Charlie Borchek, LC James Dunmyer, Maj Floyd Wamble (Womble?) Col Frank Sage, Cpt Cyrus Smith, Lt. ? Green(E?)Most of this crew retired around Eglin /Hurlburt area. reply

EdLoftus, e-mail, 17.02.2010 00:07 to - phantomguard1964-data(@)yahoo.com you were saying the 123 was never flown as a spectre, true in that the name had not been developed until late 1967 but one aircraft was fitted with a 105 mm in Thailand, not sure where it's home base was, I saw it at NKP The other was in the Belgian Congo, it was fitted with a howitzer, this was around 1965 late in the year, how long don't know reply

J.T. Smith, e-mail, 16.02.2010 22:08 After going through C-123 transition at Pope in the late Spring of 1963, I became the first PCS C-123 jockey to arrive in Viet Nam, assigned to the 310th TCS at Tan Son Nhut. During '63-'64, I flew in-country missions, landings and drops (including ARVN Airborne Training troops), and made a couple 2-week deployments to Thailand. An earlier comment about the C-123's tendency to leak in the rain brings to mind one such trip to Thailand. It was monsoon season, and we had to fly in heavy rain for nearly all of the 4-hour trip. It was raining so hard in the back that the passengers sitting under the heaters had to spread ponchos over the static lines to keep dry. As the water accumulated to several inches deep on the floor and began to slosh fore and aft, the plane became slowly more and more uncontrollable in pitch. Eventually, it took full elevator deflection just to keep the plane more or less level. It felt like we were rowing the bird along. I slowed to about 115 knots and had the Load Master open the ramp. The next time the nose pitched up, I let it stay there to let the water escape out the back. Then we closed it up and continued. It took a total of three "flushes" before we got to Bangkok. We also did the first flare missions using the C-123B. Initially, these were sort of lashed together with experimental flare chutes designed on napkins in the Club or on alert and fabricated by our very talented maintenance guys. Eventually, we got a system that worked reliably. Orbit and drop altitude was usually about 4000 ft AGL to avoid small arms fire and stay out of the attack birds' (ADs and B-26s) way. In addition to flying the regular trash haulers, I finished out the last few months of my tour in the VC-123C, aka the "White Whale," assigned to support VIPs such as Generals Harkins and Westmoreland. On one day-long mission, we had a real plane load, including Hubert Humphrey, Henry Cabot Lodge, Robert McNamera, and Marshall Nguyen Cao Ky, then President of South Viet Nam. It took four stars or better to get into the VIP compartment and three stars or better to get on the airplane. Needless to say, we had fighter escort (ADs and T-28s, out of Bien Hoa) all day long. After Nam I was assigned to Hurlburt and the 317th Air Commando Squadron of the 1st Air Commando Wing to instruct in the SEA C-123 transition school and fly tactical missions. We had a lot of fun in, Col. "Heinie" Aderholt's Flying Circus. We flew nap-of-the-earth (50 ft AGL day; 200 ft AGL night), made all sorts of air drops including LAPES and PLADS, made blacked-out assault landings day and night, and made test pickups using the Fulton Recovery System. I even got "that close" to landing a C-123 on an aircraft carrier, but they scrubbed the project after we were airborne and headed toward Pensacola bay for the first attempt. It would have been a piece of cake. We left Hurlburt in '66 when the tactical portion of the Wing split off from the SEA-training operation and moved to England AFB, LA. As the Chief of Wing Stan-Eval, I got to pick up the Wing's first C-123K from Fairchild in '67 and flew both the B and K models for several months before ending my career in the "Provider" as I headed off to AFIT and other airplanes. I shall cherish my days in the C-123 as the best of my flying career. It was slow, noisy, ugly, and at times a handful to fly well, but I loved it. reply

Bill Moss, e-mail, 12.02.2010 19:01 I was a navigator on both the C-123-B & K models. I was also a navigator on the C-119, C-124, C-130E, and the C-130G, but the C-123 was by far the best aircraft for doing airdrops was the C-123. I flew it in two different Volant Rodeos and had the best airdrop scores in my class both times and the best overall one time. It had some crude navigation eqipment in it, but it always got us where we wanted to go. My longest flight was from the Azores to Newfoundland, 9 hours overwater. Even got to land on the German Autobahn one time. reply

Mark Schaeferle, e-mail, 25.01.2010 06:23 I also flew the aircraft in Thailand as a member of the 606th SOS, 56th SOW. Loved the plane. Tons of fun to fly and could do almost anything except get you somewhere in a hurry. Still miss it today. reply

Benjamin Mann, e-mail, 01.01.2010 03:02 I flew with the 19thACS from late May 1969 until Mid April 1969 out of Tan Son Nhut on the C123K as a loadmaster. Anyone remember flying into Katum ?? That was not where you wanted to be. Would love to hear from anyone that might remember me. Can't remember many names from that time: Bob Calabrese, Ed Reuben, Chavez, Charles George. Anyone have all the tail #'s?? 54-682, 699, etc? Please contact me. Happy new year to all!!! reply

John Furqueron AEC-USCG, e-mail, 18.12.2009 02:21 The Coast Guard had at least 8 C-123B's in the 1960's until 1973. I was a crew chief on them in Naples, Italy...Guam,M.I..& Miami, FL. We use it to supply the old Loran stations throughout the MED and N. Africa, and the islands in the pacific, along with the islands in the Carib. The best AC I ever worked on as it was a work horse that would take you there and back. Noisy, slow, drafty and would rain inside at times, but easy to work on. Wish I could find some video of one these days. And how many cases of San Miguel we hauled from Sangley Point back to Guam I'll never know, along with the cases of spirits out of Malta back to Napoli.. reply

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