Fairchild AC-119

what is it?

The Fairchild AC-119G Shadow and AC-119K Stinger were twin-engine piston-powered gunships developed by the United States during the Vietnam War. They replaced the Douglas AC-47 Spooky and operated alongside the early versions of the AC-130 Spectre gunship.

🔎How to recognise it: 2 piston engines with propellers · 33.3 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 333 km/htop speed
• range 3,111 kmwithout refuelling
• size 28.1 tmax take-off weight
• built 52made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🏎️Top speed is 2.6× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 33.3 m: about 7 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 5 African elephants (~6 t each).
• 🌍Range of 3,111 km: 17× Amsterdam to Brussels.

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

—

introduced

1968

retired

1971

status

retired

number built

52

role

ground-attack aircraft and close air support gunship

makers

Fairchild-Hiller Corporation

engines

2× Wright R-3350-85 Duplex-Cyclone

crew

6

length

26.4 m

wingspan

33.3 m

height

8.1 m

max take-off weight

28.1 t

top speed

333 km/h

cruise speed

241 km/h

range

3,111 km

ceiling

7,102 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.

family