C-119 ‘Flying Boxcar’ dedicated in ceremony, open to the public Saturday

COLUMBUS, Ind. — In October of 2018, Columbus Municipal Airport Brian Payne emailed Jim Sellars, then-president of Atterbury-Bakalar Air Museum, to tell him about a C-119 aircraft in Wyoming — the same type of plane that had once been stationed at the airport during its days as an Air Force base.

“‘I think we can get it. Isn’t this the plane we’ve always wanted?’” Payne recalls saying. “’I have no idea how we’ll get it back to Columbus.’ And literally, that’s all I ever said. And I never heard the end of it after that.”

Now, nearly three years later, the reassembled and restored C-119 “Flying Boxcar” now stands on permanent display south of the long-exhibited McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II aircraft. Atterbury-Bakalar Air Museum held a ceremony on Friday to dedicate the plane, also known as Charlie 119. About 100 guests were in attendance, including volunteers who worked to restore the aircraft.

The museum will also hold a free open house from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, with members of the public invited to come and see the inside of the C-119.

“Charlie now stands as a dedication on this airpark to the visitors and the community alike, to marvel at the craftsmanship that these volunteers have put themselves through, as well as the soldiers who bravely fought in aircraft just like this for our country,” said Payne.

The museum purchased the plane, which is not airworthy, for $15,000 in 2019. It was then disassembled over several months at an airport in Greybull, Wyoming, and transported to Columbus in several hundred pieces, where volunteers worked to reassemble and restore the plane.

C-119 aircraft played a major role in Bartholomew County history during the era when Bakalar Air Force Base (1942-1970) was located where Columbus Municipal Airport now stands. During the 12 years before the base closed, there were three dozen C-119s stationed at the U.S. air base. During that time, Columbus residents saw more Flying Boxcars flying above their heads than any other aircraft. Pilots referred to the planes as the “Dollar Nineteens,” according to museum records.

For more on this story, see Saturday’s Republic.