Fairchild C-119G Flying Boxcar

The C-119 Packet was designed late in World War II by North American Aviation as an Air Force medium duty transport aircraft. The end of World War II brought the cancellation of the North American contract, but Fairchild Hiller continued to produce the plane for the Air Force in a slightly modified form. Also known as the "Flying Boxcar", the C-119 saw extensive use in the Korean War as a medium range transport aircraft. The plane could carry over 20,000 pounds of cargo or 62 fully equipped combat troops. During Vietnam, many aircraft were converted to gun-ships by the addition of four 7.62mm gatling guns and two 20mm gatling cannon firing from the port side. When the guns fired, the target was hit by over 600 rounds per second. The ground, no matter how thickly vegetated, had the appearance of a freshly plowed field! The black paint scheme and the fact that the craft flew mostly night missions earned them the nickname shadow. The gunship also carried flares, searchlights, low light level television cameras, side looking airborne radar and forward looking infrared sensors to help locate targets. The aircraft was retired from military service in the early 1970's, but some are still used by the US Forest Service as aerial fire fighters.

The C-119 at the March museum is a G model, RCAF 22122 . Our aircraft came from a private contractor to the Forestry Service in Montana after serving as an aerial tanker of fire-extinguishing borate solution. This aircraft was flown to March Field by volunteers for its last flight and arrived 29 September 1988. This aircraft is on loan from the USAF. (Note: in the past we had mistakenly identified this aircraft as Serial Number 10906.)