X-Nico

2 unusual facts about Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar


1955 Altensteig mid-air collision

The Altensteig mid-air collision was on the 11 August 1955 when two United States Air Force Fairchild C-119G Flying Boxcars collided and crashed three miles from Altensteig in West Germany.

The two Fairchild C-119G Flying Boxcars were twin-engined military transport aircraft from the 60th Troop-Carrier Wing based at Rhein-Main airfield in West Germany.


67th Network Warfare Wing

6091st Reconnaissance Squadron, which was engaged in classified activities for Fifth Air Force, was assigned to the 67th TRW as a new squadron equipped with RB-50 Superfortresses, RB-57 Canberras, C-54 Skymasters and C-119 Flying Boxcars for undisclosed intelligence-gathering operations.

Fairchild C-82 Packet

The Skytruck brand-name was allegedly the inspiration for Elleston Trevor's Skytruck in the 1964 novel, The Flight of the Phoenix.

Based on the novel by Elleston Trevor, the story centers around a C-82A Packet operated by the fictional Arabco Oil Company.

Joseph J. Brandemuehl

He has accumulated more than 3,000 flying hours in a Cessna T-41 Mescalero, Cessna T-37 Tweet, Northrop T-38 Talon, the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, Fairchild C-26 Metroliner, and the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon.


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