The C-119 was a major redesign of the Fairchild C-82 Packet .

It was designed to carry cargo, litter patients and mechanized equipment, and to drop cargo and troops by parachute. The C-119 had the same major design feature as the C-82—a rear-loading, all-through cargo hold—but featured more- powerful engines and a relocation of the flight deck.

In an effort to speed production during the Korean War, Kaiser was chosen to establish a second assembly line (151 C- 119F/Gs built; 41 C-119Cs assembled) . The type saw extensive action in the Korean War, flying from bases in Japan. C-119s were also used to ferry supplies to the Arctic for construction of the Distant Early Warning (DEW) line radar sites. Production ended in 1955.

A total of 68 C-119F/Gs were modified with an upward-hinged beaver-tail design cargo door and were redesignated C-119J.
A few C-119Js were specially modified for midair retrieval of capsules containing Corona program satellite imagery reentering the atmosphere. The first successful effort came on August 18, 1960, when a C-119 crew flying over the Pacific snagged the parachute lowering the Discoverer XIV imagery capsule returning from orbit at 8,000 feet altitude 360 miles southeast of Honolulu, Hawaii.

The type was also used by US Navy and Marine Corps (as R4Qs) , Italy, India, and Belgium.

In the late 1960s, the Air Force selected the C-119 to replace the AC-47 Spooky.Fairchild Hiller (as the company had become in 1966) was chosen to modify 52 aircraft under the Gunship III program (26 AC-119G and 26 AC-119Ks) . Entering service on March 11, 1969, (armed with four side-firing SUU-11A/A or SUU-11B/A gun pods (GAU-2B/A 7.62 miniguns) (AC-119G/K) and two General Electric M61A1 Vulcan 20-mm cannon (AC-119Konly) with the 17th Special Operations Squadron, AC-119Gs mainly flew fire support and air base defense missions. The 18th SOS (AC-119K) was employed almost exclusively to destroy targets along the Ho Chi Minh Trail during the Vietnam War.

The AC-119s were not done to replace the AC-47s, but to do something the other gun ships couldn't. The Spooky didn't have enough fire power, and the AC-130s were too fast, and too vulnerable a target from the anti-aircraft fire. There were several 130s lost to enemy fire, but only one C-119, and that was because the idiots sent it out in the daytime. Everybody assumes that the 119s replaced the C-47s, and the C-130 gunships replaced the AC-119s, but thats incorrect, the C-119s were the third contract, not the second.

The last C-119 was retired in September 1975.


C-119 Cockpit.


One of the rare C-119s that had the Beaver Tail Modification.


Description
Manufacturer: Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corp., Aircraft Division. Kaiser Manufaturing Co.
Locations Built: Hagerstown, MD. Willow Run, Mich.
Cost: $590,000 for basic aircraft (AC-119G modifications cost approx $623,000 for each aircraft; AC119K modifications cost approx $2.9 million for each aircraft)
Designation: R4Q
Models/Variants: C-119B, F, G, J, K, L, AC-119G Shadow, AC-119K Stinger.
Nickname: Flying Boxcar
Equivalent to: C-119C
Type: Cargo / Transport
Specifications
Length:86' 5" 26.34 M
Height:26' 7"'8.10 M
Wingspan:109' 3" 33.30 M
Wing-area: 1447.00 Sq Ft134.42 Sq.M
Empty Weight:39800.0 lbs18049.0 Kg
Gross Weight:74000.0 lbs33560.0 Kg
Propulsion
No.of Engines:
Powerplant:Two Pratt & Whitney R-4360-20 (C-119Ks also had two GeneralElectric J85-GE-17 turbojets of 2,850l. static thrist in underwing pods)
Horsepower (each):3500
Performance
Range: 1770 miles2850.00 Km
Max Speed: 281.00 Mph452.00 Km/H244.32 Kt
Climb: 1010.00 Ft/min 307.83 M/min
Ceiling: 23900.0 Ft7284.40 M




Pratt & Whitney R-4360

The C-119 had two R-4360-20 Pratt & Whitney engines. Each engine had 28 cylinders in four rows and seven banks, 56 spark plugs, 7 Magnetos, 4 seperate circular rotating cams, and an internal super-charger. At take off settings, together they developed 7000 HP (7800 water injected) delivered to, two Hamilton Standard, four paddle blade, 14 foot props. The Pratt & Whitney R-4360-20 was the most powerful internal combustion reciprocating engine ever built.

If my memory is correct; at take off settings the engines ran at 2800 RPM and pulled 62 inches of manifold pressure.











Fairchild C-82 Packet




The C-82 was designed to meet the need of a large capacity cargo aircraft that could load at near ground level. The single prototype first flew on September 10, 1944; deliveries began in late 1945 and ended in September 1948. Two hundred twenty-three Packets were built-all but four were-As. It was primarily used for cargo and troop transport, but it also was used for paratroop operations and towing gliders. Its capacity was 41 paratroops or 34 stretchers and and it had clam-shell rear doors that allowed easy entry of trucks, tanks, artillery, and other bulky cargo. Beginning in 1946, some C-82s were assigned to Tactical Air Command troop carrier squadrons and others to Military Air Transport Service (MATS). Several were assigned to the Berlin Airlift primarily to carry assembled vehicles into the city. In 1947, Fairchild developed an improved Packet whitch the USAF accepted for production as the C-119. It had more powerful engines, increased cargo and weight capacity and a relocated flight deck.


C-82 Assembly Plant




SPECIFACTIONS
Span: 106 ft. 6 in.
Length: 77 ft. 1 in.
Height: 26 ft. 4 in.
Weight: 54,000 lbs. loaded
Engines: Two Pratt & Whitney R-2800-85s of 2,100 hp. ea.
Crew: Five
Cost: $441.000
Serial Number: 48-581
C/N: 10216
Other Registrations: N4752C
Displayed as: 45-57735
PERFORMANCE
Maximum Speed: 250 mph.
Cruising Speed: 162
Range: 2,140 miles
Service Ceiling: 27,000 ft.
Radio Information provided by

Phill Chastain

BC-348 H.F. reciever. ART-13 Multi Preset H.F. Transmitter,150 watts c.w. 100 watts am.
V.H.F.-ARC-3 eight channel crystal control transciever. Approximatly 14 watts.
D.F.-ARN-7 Auto directional finder good to home in to on A.F.N Frankfurt. ARN-11 Same frequency and range as the "7" but had to be manually orientated. Lot of planes got in trouble using this unit. ( Flying away instead of too.)
Radio beacon reciever. (nomenclature escapes me) Used to pinpoint paratainer drops.


Pratt/Whitney R-2800