53-7826 thru 788458 C-119G Aircraft were contracted for in 1953, and were probably built in 1954. To my knowledge, these were the last C-119 aircraft built. They were built as G series and were not converted C or CF series.7826, 7830, 7831, 7839, 7844, 7845, 7849 were assigned to the 12th Troop Carrier Squadron

53-8069 thru 8156These Aircraft were originally built as “F” series aircraft, as part of a contract awarded to Kaiser in 1951, which included numbers 51-8098 thru 8168. Kaiser converted 87 of them to C-119G Aircraft in a 1953 contract, probably executed in 1954. This group of airplanes was actually built before the 51-82- - aircraft flown by the 12th Squadron in 1952 and 1953. Where they were in the interim is unclear, however, reliable sources state they were new when delivered to the 12th Squadron. I understand that one engineer even polished his - or part of it, anyway.

8140, 8143, 8144, 8145, 8148, 8149, 8151, 8152, 8156 were assigned to the 12th Troop Carrier Sq. This accounts for 16 of the 18 12th Squadron Aircraft. There are two I can’t confirm, so if you know of a number I missed, please forward.

7826, 7830, 7831, 7839, 8145 and 8148 converted to AC-119K “Stinger” Hunter-Killer Aircraft. 7826 was hit by ground fire in 1970 with 14 feet of the right wing shot off, and although landed safely, was probably salvaged. 7830, 7831, 7839 and 8145 were given to the South Vietnamese Air Force in 1972 and flown by their crews. Support for the aircraft was stopped at that time, so no parts were available, and they may have had to canabalize some to keep the others flying. Speculation has it that any that were left were loaded with families of Air Force personnel or refugees and flown to Thailand in 1975 at the collapse of S. Vietnam.


The fate of 8148 is not known. It may have been shot down or crashed, or damaged badly enough that it was salvaged by the Americans. Derelict C-119s and C-130s were seen at Thon Son Nut in 1994, but which ones they were is not known.7849 and 8149 were converted to C-119L models, and 7849 was sold commercially, and became civil registry N1040E. The disposition of 8149 is unknown, but probably went to civil registry, also.7844 was converted to a C-119K and sold to Ethiopia8143 and 8151 were sold to Belgium. 8151 is preserved at Musee Royal de la Armee in Brussels.

C-119 Assemble Plant.

8140, 8152m 8144 and 8156 were converted to C-119J models and sold to the Italians. 8140 was delivered to the 12th almost 2 years late, having been involved in a taxi accident in Prestwick, Scotland when being ferried from Maryland. The two years of idleness made it a problem aircraft from the time it arrived in France. Something always seemed to be wrong with 8140, and general opinion was it was an airplane just looking for a place to crash. The engineer did a masterful job with it, and we thought 8140 never did find that place to crash---but we were WRONG. In a recent letter from Bob Wilder, GCA operator at Chateauroux in France in 1962, he tells of 8140 and it’s Italian crew trying to takeoff from there one morning in foggy, misty conditions. 8140 lost power on takeoff, and ran through the barrier at the end of the runway, near the GCA shack. All three landing gear collapsed and 8140 was on its belly, tangled in the barrier. The crew was unhurt, so the aircraft was jacked up, the gear lowered, the Italians braced it with 2x4s, and after some minor sheet metal work on the damaged belly the next day, flew it back to Pisa with the gear down, landing there safely according to Wilder. As the damage was minor, probably the Italians repaired 8140 and continued to fly her. This writer once made a white-knuckle emergency night landing at Chateauroux in 8140 in 1958, and it is my opinion that 8140 had already picked Chad as the place to crash, but had to wait a long time to do it.


That accounts for 15 of the 18 Aircraft of the 12th Squadron. There is no mention of 7845 in an, account that I can locate.

The 12th Troop Carrier Squadron was activated in the dark days of 1942, and operated in the China Burma India Theater, and also to some extent in the invasion of Sicily and Italy during WWII. In those days, they flew Douglas C-47 and Curtis C-46 aircraft. The 12th was deactivated after the war and existed only on paper, as did the 60th Troop Carrier Wing. The 12th was reactivated to participate in the Berlin Airlift, and it is known that they flew the new Fairchild C-82 at that time. It is possible that they flew some Douglass C-54 aircraft during that time, also.

When the Airlift was over, the 60th Troop Carrier Wing was activated at Rhine-Main, consisting of the 10th, 11th and 12th Troop carrier Squadrons-all equipped with C-82 Packets.

In March of 1953, the old C-82s were flown back to the United States and new C-119s were brought back.

Nearly all the C-82s were sold to civil registry. A great many of them were purchased by Banker’s Life and Casualty Company, who presumably sold them to various operations. They ended up all over the world, and several of the major airlines converted them to freight hauling. They were also popular with oil companies operating in remote parts of the world, and one was the major prop in a movie called “The Flight of the Phoenix.” One C-82 of the 11th Squadron was destroyed in a crash on Mt. Dore near Claremont-Ferrand in central France.

Rhine-Main 1953 - 1955

The new group of 12th Squadron C-119 Flying Boxcar aircraft were numbers 51-8235, 8237, 8240, 8241, 8243, 8244, 8245, 8255, 8256, 8258, 8259, 8266, and 8269, 8270. Four more aircraft, numbers 51-2601, 2605, 2611, 2612, and 2613, were transferred to the 12th from a Troop Carrier wing in Alaska and were not new. The 51-26 - - were among the last 135 C-119C models built. The contract called for 185 aircraft, from serial number 51-2532 thru 51-2717. Serial number 51-2667 was the last C model built. This group included aircraft number 51-2585, pulled off the line and converted to the only C-119H, to compete for the contract ultimately won by Lockheed with the C-130. The remaining 50 aircraft were built as F models, with the Wright R-3350-85 Turbo-Compound engines installed - not the P&W 4360. Those of you who are partial to the 4360 can blame General Curtis LeMay for having to learn all about, and fly with, the 3350. SAC had priority and he decreed that all SAC radial engines be the same for the B-36, B-50 and KC-97.

As regards the 51-82 - - aircraft group, there is a conflict about which C-119 models they were. The Air Force Contract says they were F models. The pilots, engineers and radio operators who flew the Rhine-Main C-119s always referred to them as “CF” models, but if they will look at their AF Form 5 (record of flying time for pay) they will find the time as logged in a C model. There is not, nor has there ever been, an official designation for a C-119 called a “CF.” Had to be a C or an F - couldn’t be both. There is no question that the 51-82 - - aircraft carried Pratt & Whitney R-4360-20WA engines, but they had all the other F model modifications - i.e.: Ventral and dorsal fins on the booms, double nose wheel tires, and the laundry-chute for bailout from the flight deck. Etc. To further complicate the issue, the 53-81 - - aircraft that replaced the Rhine-Main C-119s, and built by Kaiser-Fraser BEFORE these 51-82 - - “CFs,” were all built as F models, and converted to G models on the assembly line with 3350 engines.

It is possible that contract numbers were changed, or maybe Fairchild had some 4360s hidden somewhere, but obviously, this group of F models got the P & W engines. Why is unknown.

Information about the disposition of the 51-26 - - aircraft is unknown, but because they were older and had a higher number of hours, it is likely they were sold to civil registry.

Of the 51-82 - - aircraft, two were lost in a formation collision May 15, 1953, 51-8235 and 51-8241. Two were converted to G models, 51-8245 and 51-8258. For the remaining aircraft, there is no record of disposition. Most likely, they were converted to G models and sold to one of the third world countries. All C-119s were eventually converted to G models.

The “CF” crew chiefs who are known are: Sergeant Ford and later, John Traficante- 51-2612, Paul Baldwin- 51-2613, Bill Holt- 51-8240, Carl Frenz- 51-8259 (this aircraft was hit by debris and came within a whisker of being lost in the collision of May 15, 1953).

The 12th Squadron was equipped with new C-119 G models in the last half of 1955.


This writer left the 12th Squadron in July of 1959 amid rumors that the Squadron would be getting C-130 aircraft, however, as no radio operators station was present in a C-130, I must confess that I don’t care. C-119s were my aircraft - the last planes contracted for by the Air Force that had a Morse Key as standard equipment.

I also learned that another of my old aluminum friends, 53-7839 was lost on one of the last USAF missions flown by the Stingers. It returned to Da Nang to find the field socked in, and the GCA radar inoperative. The pilot tried to get in using the ILS, but could never acquire the runway visually, and dangerously low on fuel, he elected to head out to sea and bail out his crew. Fifteen of the sixteen mixed American-Vietnamese crew survived, but 839, veteran of the near fatal GCA at Phalsbourg in the Alps, ended her days at the bottom of the South China Sea.

At almost the same time, while waiting for the hand-over of the remaining Stingers to the South Vietnamese, 53-7831, the old “Belly Buster,” was very badly damaged when the revetment it was in, was hit by a Viet Cong rocket. Shrapnel damage was extensive and in Lee Kyser’s pictures I have seen, it had more holes than a sieve. So the airplane that almost ended rolled up in a ball of burning aluminum in Marseille, was probably salvaged for parts by SNVAF to keep the others flying.

The final fate of 53-8148 remains a mystery. There has been a lot of speculation, but no solid conclusion. She was converted to an AC-119K Stinger in St. Augustine, but after that, she disappears. It is known that she went to Vietnam, but none of the people who gave me access to their logs have a record of having flown in 8148 in Vietnam, and we know she was not part of the group of at least 11 aircraft that were transferred to the South Vietnamese Air Force at Da Nang March 4, 1973. One source places her at Nakon Phanom, known locally as NKP, at the time of the transfer to SVNAF, so it would appear that she went that route. I flew in her a lot when she was young and new and I took movies of her shiny polished aluminum set off by 12th Squadron blue trim – she had no name, but had a painting of a scantily clad young lady on her side under the cockpit windows, and I recall she was a good airplane.

Only three of the old warriors survived and were turned over to the SVNAF intact—7830, 8145 and 8148.

Larry Marsek, who was very helpful in compiling information about the Stingers, saw some C-119s in Thailand in 1975, but he was in a high security area and could not investigate. I also had correspondence from Leon Wohlert, who traveled to Vietnam in 1994. He saw at least two derelict C-119s and some C-130As, rotting away on the tarmac at Tan Son Nuht. Maybe one or more of those were former 12th Squadron airplanes. No one knows.

So ends 20 years of notable service given to the Air Force by the C-119s originally attached to the 12th Troop Carrier Squadron at Dreux Air Base, France. All of them were good airplanes – my old friends. I suppose I’ll just have to be happy with memories of them, and leave it at that.

Adios, old friends.

I must say it again – the Fairchild C-119 Packet, affectionately know as the Flying Boxcar in all of it diverse forms – was one hell of a damn good airplane. The U.S. Air Force, the Third World, NATO Allies, Civil Registry -- everyone else who flew them over the past 50 years, and of course, the American taxpayer, certainly got their money’s worth – and more.