Fairchild XC-120 Packplane Cargo Aircraft 1951 US Army, from The Big Picture TV-172

• published: 31 Oct 2015
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more at: http://scitech.quickfound.net/aviation_news_and_search.html The Fairchild XC-120 Packplane is demonstrated. It was a derivative of the C-119 Flying Boxcar transport, and the sole XC-120 was in fact a converted C-119. Clip from "The Big Picture" episode TV-172 The Big Picture TV Series playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_hX5wLdhf_Jwfz5l_3NRAcCYURbOW2Fl Public domain film from the US National Archives, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and one-pass brightness-contrast-color correction & mild video noise reduction applied. The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and/or equalization (the resulting sound, though not perfect, is far less noisy than the original). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairchild_XC-120_Packplane The Fairchild XC-120 Packplane was an American experimental transport aircraft first flown in 1950. It was developed from the company's C-119 Flying Boxcar, and was unique in the unconventional use of removable cargo pods that were attached below the fuselage, instead of possessing an internal cargo compartment... Design and development The XC-120 Packplane began as a C-119B fuselage (48-330, c/n 10312) which was cut off at a point just below the flight deck. The wings were angled upwards between the engines and the fuselage, raising the fuselage by several feet and giving the plane an inverted gull wing appearance. Smaller diameter "twinned" wheels were installed forward of each of the main landing gear struts to serve as nosewheels, while the main struts were extended backwards. All four landing gear units, in matching "nose" and "main" sets, could be raised and lowered in a scissorlike fashion to lower the aircraft and facilitate the removal of a planned variety of wheeled pods which would be attached below the fuselage for the transport of cargo. The goal was to allow cargo to be preloaded into the pods; it was claimed that such an arrangement would speed up loading and unloading cargo. Production aircraft were to be designated C-128. Operational history Only one XC-120 was built. Though the aircraft was tested extensively and made numerous airshow appearances in the early 1950s the project went no further. The sole prototype was eventually scrapped. General characteristics - Crew: Five (pilot, copilot, flight engineer, two loadmasters) - Length: 77 ft 1 in (23.50 m) - Wingspan: 106 ft 6 in (32.46 m) - Powerplant: 2 × Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major radial engines, 3,250 hp (2,420 kW) each...