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4 Sqn groundcrew standing in front of one of the USAF Fairchild C-119 Boxcar transports that had brought in the 11th US Airborne Regiment which deployed to RAF Jever for Operation Brown Jug - 17Sep57.   (Thanks to Mike Stanbrook.)

Fairchild C-119 Boxcar

The Fairchild Corporation's first post World War II operational transport design. the C-82 Packet, soon gave way to a much modified version, the C-119 Boxcar, which first flew in November 1947.   By the time the production of the aircraft ceased in 1955, 1,150 had been built.   The C-119 saw widespread service within the USAF, the US Navy (as the R4Q) and the air forces of Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Nationalist China, France India, Italy, Morocco and Norway.   Some USAF C-119s were specially modified for reconnaissance satellite recovery.   The C-119 was very active in the Korean War, dropping both airborne forces and supplies, and was used by the French in Indo-China.

The C-119 experienced a new lease of life in the Vietnam War, this time in the ground-support role as the AC-119G 'Shadow' and the AC-119K 'Stinger' gunships mounting side-firing weapons capable of unleashing up to 6,000 rounds per minute per gun.   When acting as a transport, the C-119 was capable of carrying up to 62 fully equipped troops or a 13,608 Kg (30,000 lb) cargo load.

Crew: 4 (plus 40 paratroopers); Powerplant: two 2,611 KW (3,500 hp) Wright R-3350-89 Cyclone 18-cylinder radial engines. Performance: max speed 350 Km/h (218 mph) range 2,850 km ( 1,770 miles)service ceiling: 7,285 m ( 23,900 ft). Dimensions: wingspan 33.32 m (109 ft 4 in); length 26.36 m ( 86 ft 6 in); height 8.00 m (26 ft 3 in) Weight: 38,556 Kg (85,000 lb) loaded.
(Thanks to The Encyclopedia of Aircraft edited by Robert Jackson).
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