Features
C-119G
Type:tactical transport aircraft.
Engines:2 Wright R-3350-89W air-cooled radial engines of 3,400 hp.
Performance:
maximum speed, 476 km/h at 5,182 m;
cruising speed, 322 km/h;
range with normal fuel load, 3,669 km.
Weight:empty, 18,136 kg;
maximum take-off, 33,747 kg.
Dimensions:
wingspan, 33.30 m;
length, 26.37 m; height, 8.03 m;
wing area, 130.06 m2.
High-wing monoplanes, with a twin fin supported by two beams, the Fairchild C-82 Packet and C-119 Flying Boxcar are among the most original aircraft in the history of aviation.
Their design was innovative enough to be partially taken over by the French Nord Noratlas and the British Armstrong Whitworth Argosy, but the manufacturers of these two aircraft never managed to seriously compete with Fairchild from the point of view of the number of units built.
The development of the C-82 Packet began in 1941, to meet the requirements of the American Air Force, which wanted to have a device for transporting troops and equipment. The XC-82 prototype made its first flight in September 1944. Fairchild and North American would normally have gone into mass production, but the end of hostilities led to the termination of the contracts. This is how finally North . American only built three aircraft out of the planned thousand.
For its part, Fairchild nevertheless produced 220 C-82As until 1948, but they were withdrawn from active service in 1954.
The C-119, although resembling the C-82 quite closely, differed from it in an important way mainly with regard to the cockpit, lowered and brought forward, as well as the empennage, completely redesigned. In addition, the Pratt &Whitney R-2800 piston engines of the C-82 had given way to the much more powerful R-4360s of the same firm, while the enlarged fuselage allowed the transport of a larger payload. .
After evaluating a conversion of the C-82, the C-119A, in 1947-1948, production of the C-119B soon began, but the model was soon superseded by the C- 119C. It is estimated that a total of 360 copies of these two variants rolled off the assembly lines. The C-119F was powered by two Wright R-3350 radial engines (220 copies) and immediately preceded the final version of the aircraft, the C-119G, equipped with the same system. The construction of the latter was interrupted at the end of 1955, when 480 aircraft of this type had been produced.
The Flying Boxcar served in the American Air Force, but also in many allied countries of the United States:Belgium, Canada, Ethiopia, India, Italy, Morocco, Norway, Nationalist China, South Vietnam. It is in the latter country that the famous anti-guerrilla AC-119G/K were used for interdiction missions. Other variants of the aircraft include the C-119J, with shell loading doors installed at the rear, and the JC-119, assigned to the recovery of space capsules. The C-119, despite its venerable age, remains in service in India in a few copies, and it is believed that the same is true in Taiwan.