MEGAN HOLLAND
Friday, November 29, 2002 - Kodiak Daily Mirror



'Flying boxcar' bucks odds, flies again
By MEGAN HOLLAND
Kodiak Daily Mirror

KODIAK--Sitting in the familiar cockpit, Roger Bartels flicked switches and checked gauges. With a grin on his face he said, "You know I was nicknamed the The Ghost after I landed this thing.

"We weren't supposed to walk away alive but for some reason we did." And he smiled again.

He turned on the engines, sped down the dirt runway, took off toward Kodiak and, once again, like an apparition in the sky from a long time ago, flew the antique warplane out from its 1989 crash landing site in Port Lions. He came back to finish the trip, 13 years and four months later.


The plane is a 1953 C-119 military aircraft, a predecessor to the modern C-130s. In the 1940s and 50s, more than 1,100 C-119s were made. They are affectionately called Flying Boxcars because of their odd shape--they look like they swallowed a 40-foot container. But that's what they were designed for: to haul cargo and carry up to 70 paratroopers at a time. During the Korean and Vietnam wars they were used extensively. In 1966, the Flying Boxcar rose to stardom among aviation enthusiasts with the Jimmy Stewart movie, "Flight of the Phoenix." The movie is similar to the story at Port Lions: the C-119 is forced to crash land in a remote location and the crew must fix up the plane to fly it out and save themselves.

Today, the remaining Flying Boxcars are in airport graveyards or aviation museums. Nobody knows how many can still fly, but even the highest estimates say there are less than six, most outside the U.S. where the C-119s were left after their overseas use. When the Port Lions C-119 took off it made aviation history. It is, most likely, the second C-119 still working in this country. Little is known about the history of the plane except it was auctioned by the military for private sale in the 1980s. Shortly thereafter, it made its way north.

"This airplane is tailor-made for Alaska," said owner John Reffett. "There are a number of airports around the state where you can't bring bigger planes but where you still need to get large, heavy cargo."

see www.flyingboxcar.com for details on the recent and very amazing resurrection of TWO C 119s in AK. Has some great photos. I am donating some instruments to these guys as they need all the help they can get to make a success out of this operation. I'd rather see a working propliner any day than a pristine static display in a museum, thats why I want to help. Dirt, smoke, oil? bring it on! Lets wish these guys the best. They are the last commercial operators of C 119s anywhere. H&P just flys one to an airshow now and then, no more cargo or air tanker flights.

I believe the aircraft involved in this film was a C-82, not a C-119. Close....but no cigar!

Ralph is correct. The plane in the movie was a Fairchild C-82 Packet, the predecessor of the Flying Boxcar. I remember that the "home-built" one-engined C-82 wing was flown by a famous pilot, I believe it was Frank Tallmanz(?), who died in the crash...
Somebody know the history of this movie star C-82?

Fernand

A pretty good explanation, with pics:

http://stripe.colorado.edu/~steinerd/Phoenix.html

Hope this helps,

Tom